How Fuwa Sho met his match
by StarryNight359
Summary: Adopted by AZTHEBEST1 - Ren's cousin meets the Skip Beat! characters as she enters show business. The story is mostly told from her point of view and she'll be helping RenXKyoko along as well as 'distract' Sho.
1. Introduction

Disclaimer: I do not own Skip Beat! or any of it's characters

Side note: This isn't a fan fiction only about the actual characters. This fan fiction is mostly about and from the point of view of an OC although I will include known characters later in the story. **If you want to read from when actual Skip Beat! characters are mentioned you can skip to chapter 3. There is a sort of summary of the OC's life up until then although reading the first two chapters may help you undertsand her background a bit better.**

* * *

><p>Prologue<p>

Alexandria stood in front of grandfather's desk which was laden with all sorts of paperwork and waited. In fact, she had waited there for almost ten minutes with a perfectly straight back, her feet together and her hands neatly clasped in front of her, just as she had been taught. During this whole time grandfather had been scribbling away on some sheets of paper or typing something up on his computer. Not once had he looked her way.

Alexandria was starting to become impatient but didn't let the irritation show.

She glanced at the huge elaborate clock standing against the wall behind grandfather's desk and watched another minute slowly tick by. With every second the silence seemed to become heavier, only interrupted by the occasional scratch of pen on paper or the _clickety-clack _of the computer keyboard. Not to mention the itch on her nose which was slowly getting worse. She didn't dare to scratch it in case she was reprimanded. When she finally couldn't take it anymore she inconspicuously cleared her throat.

Grandfather didn't react.

"You sent for me?" Alexandria said quietly. Grandfather glared at her. She obviously hadn't been quiet enough. He gestured at her to sit down in the chair opposite to him instead of answering.

She sat down and looked at him questioningly. Grandfather cleared up the paperwork strewn across his desk, sliding one piece of paper on another until it was all in a neat pile. Once that was done, he leaned back in his chair, folded his hands and laid them on his stomach.

Only then did he look at her - if it could be called that. It was more like he was seeing _through_ her.

"Yes, I did." Grandfather finally said. His expression and tone were unfathomable. It gave absolutely no warning to what his next words were.

"You are to be married."

Alexandria continued to look at him with a calm demeanor, but inside her head it was an entirely different story.

She couldn't quite understand what she had just heard. She was in shock. Then it hit her.

_Marriage? Are you joking? I'm only seventeen! _she thought frantically. She was speechless. But she knew that once her grandfather had made a decision he would go through with it. It wouldn't change anything if she resisted.

Struggling for composure, she tucked a strand of long, hazelnut coloured hair behind her ear to hide the trembling of her hand.

"W-who?" she pushed out from between frozen lips. That was all she could eventually say after she found her voice again.

Grandfather arched an eyebrow. Alexandria understood immediately. Managing to hide her emotions behind a neutral expression she tried again.

"Who am I marrying?" she asked, her voice stable.

Grandfather was pleased that she had been able to learn her lessons so well. Of course, he would never tell her that. To him she was a pawn and as it turned out she was going to be a lot more useful to him than he had thought. Any hint that he even noticed her efforts were going destroy all the hard work he had put in to make her who she was today.

If Alexandria had noticed the manipulative glint in his eyes she wasn't showing it.

She was still looking at him for an answer to her question.

"Chase Darnell. You remember him don't you? After all you saw each other not too long ago." Grandfather looked at her like a predator might look at its prey - ready to pounce at any sign of movement. But Alexandria was frozen stiff, the second time in the space of five minutes. _Chase…? Could it really be…?_

Grandfather was beginning to show signs of irritation at her lack of reaction as it clearly showed just how rattled she was.

Alexandria gave a quick shake of her head and pasted a slight smile on her face.

To be honest, now that it was getting through to her that she was going to marry him, she could barely keep up her calm façade even with all her practice. After all, Chase and her had been friends for a long time and they had only recently become couple.

But then something occurred to her. She let a slight frown show. She didn't want to point it out but she was too curious.

"Grandfather… I thought you hated the kind of industry Chase is involved in."

His shoulders stiffened. He shot a glare at her at the mention of that hateful occupation.

"As you know I want the company to remain in the family, as it has for generations. But with no son to pass it onto, my only choice is to find someone responsible enough to take over and bind him to the family. Before he entered _that _field, Chase showed how capable he was several times. He has the potential to take over the company and you will be that bond which will make Chase part of the family."

Alexandria was about to open her mouth to say something but Grandfather continued talking.

"However, he has agreed to my conditions. He knows I disapprove of his current occupation and has signed a contract that will end his career as musician by the time of the marriage."

Alexandria could feel herself tearing up. Chase loved his music and he was going to give it up for her sake?

"The wedding will take place at the end of the year, in four months time."

Four months…?

"But… I'm not turning eighteen until January next year." she couldn't hide her disappointment. She was not allowed to marry until she was an adult. _Unless…_

Grandfather let a small smile slip through. This was going exactly as he had hoped.

"I will sign the papers when it is time. The only thing you need to do is to be present and be ready to give your signature."

* * *

><p>"So… you really mean it?"<p>

Alexandria tried to stay calm but the news she just heard were simply to good to be true. A deep sense of happiness was spreading through her body and a brilliant smile broke through her calm mask.

"It's really him?" she asked again just to make sure she had heard grandfather right.

Who glanced at her in disapproval and barely concealed disdain.

"How many times have I told you that I never repeat myself? And wipe that expression off your face, it's sickening."

Her grandfather turned his attention back to the piece of paper he was holding.

Alexandria's smile dimmed somewhat. She knew that grandfather had never truly cared for her but she would have thought that he would at least show some emotion when it came to her marriage.

_That's right, marriage!_ she almost squealed in happiness at the thought of it. She quickly glanced over the desk at grandfather who was now frowning at another paper. Alexandria wanted to ask him about the details but he was completely ignoring her.

_I guess this means I'm officially dismissed._ She sighed. She stood up with a natural grace and bowed.

"If this was all you had to discuss with me I will take my leave now to continue with my lessons." This was only a formality as she had been raised to have impeccable manners no matter the circumstances. As predicted, grandfather didn't even nod in acknowledgement.

Alexandria was almost out the door when he stopped her.

"Alexandria."

She turned her head and looked at him curiously.

"Don't use those Japanese customs. Anyone who actually minded them in this house is now long dead."

Grandfather still wasn't looking at her and his voice was calm but she heard the underlying accusations in his voice.

She shrunk back against the door as if she had been slapped. Her perfect posture faltered for a moment as conflicting emotions were flitting across her face.

"Yes, grandfather." she replied when she had herself under control again. When she had slipped back into the calm, composed mask she had been wearing for over ten years now.

Alexandria quietly closed the door behind her and went back in the direction of the library. She entered and saw that her teacher was already seated at the centre table, waiting impatiently.

"A lady is never late." Miss Green scolded as soon as she spotted her.

"My deepest apologies." Alexandria said without a trace of sarcasm.

Miss Green snorted through her hawklike nose and adjusted her huge glasses which made her already small black eyes look even smaller.

"Now, let's begin with today's lesson…"

Alexandria's thoughts were drifting. She was usually eager to learn, to please her grandfather but today nothing seemed that important. After all she had been given great news!

She had always known that grandfather would eventually marry her off to some businessman to take over the company and had already resigned herself to her fate. But she never would have guessed that she would be lucky enough to marry someone she loved. She realised that an arranged marriage in the 21st century in a westernised country like America was unusual but the marriages in her family had all been arranged, including her grandfather's. There was only one exception and that was her mother's older brother who she hadn't had any contact to since her mother's funeral.

Alexandria sighed. She desperately wished time to go by faster so she could call Chase. Thinking about Chase brought her back to the thought that had been nagging at her since her grandfather's announcement.

_I wonder if Chase already knows…? I really hope so. And what about his music? He's always so happy when he's performing…_

These thoughts were going around in her head when Alexandria suddenly realised something was missing. Then she noticed it - Miss Green had stopped talking and was looking at her pointedly. She was obviously expecting an answer to some question she hadn't heard. Snapped back into reality Alexandria gave an apologetic smile.

"I'm so very sorry. Could you please repeat your question?"

Miss Green's nostrils flared and she internally braced herself. Depending on how strong The Nose Flare was, it usually meant annoyance, disappointment or anger. Her teacher constantly criticised something about Alexandria - usually her posture or bad manners (it was usually Japanese mannerisms she used which Miss Green thought were barbaric). Recently, 'inattentiveness' had been added to the list. This combined with The Nose Flare probably meant Miss Green was -

"No." Miss Green said, her deceptively even voice shaking with suppressed rage.

-angry.

"This was the third time I asked you the same question. I could forgive that if it was not so rare that you do not pay attention. However, recently your inattentiveness-"

_There it is_, Alexandria thought.

"-has gotten more and more frequent!" Miss Green breathed heavily as all that pent-up emotion left her in a rush.

Alexandria stared at her. That was the most emotion she had ever seen from her strict teacher. Miss Green blinked, smoothed down her hair and began to clean her glasses.

"Really, I must say I am disappointed in you. Someone of your high position should know how to behave properly, especially when your _esteemed_ grandfather was so worried about your safety that he requested a private tutor from when you first came here. You should be grateful for all he has done for you."

Alexandria was beginning to feel annoyed. What did this woman know? Thankfully she was able to keep up her customary mild smile.

"I do beg your forgiveness. I promise to pay attention from now on. Shall the lesson continue now?"

Finished with cleaning her glasses, Miss Green pushed them back on to her nose. She looked at the clock hanging on the wall and shook her head.

"It is getting late. Please complete your exam preparation on your own for tomorrow." With that, her teacher whisked out the door and left Alexandria in the library.

She sighed and collected her books she was supposed to have read through to be ready for her final exam. It was going to be on history, her least favourite subject.

"Reading about wars is always so boring. It's always the same thing - death, destruction, poverty…" Alexandria muttered on her way out the door. She closed the door behind her and started to make her way to her room. Suddenly, a melody started to play. Alexandria smiled at the familiar sound of Chase's newest number 1 single playing and stopped walking. She transferred all the books onto one arm and slid her free hand into her skirt pocket where the source of the music was coming from. She pressed a button and lifted the mobile to her ear.

"Hello?"

"Hey, it's me." Alexandria could feel something warm and fuzzy inside her at the sound of his voice.

"Hey, Chase." she said happily.

Silence.

Alexandria was just beginning to wonder if had hung up when he said something.

"So, um. Did your grandpa tell you?" Chase said, a hint of nervousness in his voice.

She almost giggled in relief. It was good to know she wasn't the only one who was nervous.

"Yeah, he did." she answered, smiling.

"How do you feel about it? I mean, we've known each other for a while but this is big." He suddenly laughed.

"What is it? What's so funny?" Alexandria asked, startled.

"Ah, it's just I said that this is really important and I'm talking to you on the phone as if it wasn't. I really want to talk to you face to face. Can we meet tomorrow?"

"But aren't you busy with work?"

"Yeah, but I can clear my schedule for the late afternoon and evening. We could go on a date. How does that sound?"

_A date…_

"I'd love to." she replied warmly.

"Alright. I'll pick you up tomorrow at 4 ok?"

"Yeah, that's fine." Alexandria was mentally calculating until when she would have school.

"Oh, and by the way" Chase interrupted her thoughts. "Wear something warm and practical."

Alexandria beamed. She knew what that meant. Thank goodness grandfather didn't know about that.

"Sure."

"Alright, then. See you tomorrow."

"'bye." She waited until she heard a continuous beeping sound that meant he had hung up.

"I love you." she whispered into the phone. She hung up and shook her head at her silliness. They hadn't said it to each other yet and she was afraid to be the first. After safely stowing away her mobile she resumed walking towards her room. Once she was there she flicked on the light switch and carefully laid down the books on her desk in a neat pile. Catching sight of her reflection in the mirror she stepped forward to scrutinise herself. What she saw was a tall, slender, underdeveloped girl with an elfin shaped face and straight-as-a-ruler elbow length hazelnut hair. Alexandria looked at the night table where she had placed a framed photo of her mother. The only things her reflection had in common with the beautiful woman in the photo was the face shape and the bluish-violet coloured eyes as well as the slender frame. Granted, the hair was the same colour but only because Alexandria dyed hers. Opposed to her mother's big round eyes, Alexandria's were almond shaped, almost catlike, she had a round button nose and her mouth was smaller and more pouty than her mother's.

She leaned closer to the mirror and saw a tiny bit of black regrowth at the roots of her hair. _Guess I should dye it again soon._

At that thought Alexandria went into the adjoining bathroom and grabbed on of the many packets of dye from underneath the sink drawer. Once the dye had been prepared and applied, Alexandria went back to her self inspection.

She knew she wasn't ugly but she had never thought of herself as pretty. Maybe that was because she kept being compared to her mother who had not only been petite and curvy but also polite, kind and compassionate. She was beginning to show the signs of a developing slender hourglass figure but the changes were still barely noticeable and her real personality was quite different from her mother's.

Alexandria sighed and wondered not for the first time, _Am I good enough for Chase?_

* * *

><p>Alexandria quickly inspected her appearance one more time in the mirror. She was wearing her favourite heather blue and purple striped hoodie and a black pair of comfortable jeans which were tucked into a pair of comfortable knee high brown leather boots. She even put on a little bit of makeup; she usually didn't really care for it but she wanted to look pretty for Chase.<p>

Grinning foolishly from ear to ear, Alexandria sprinted out the door and towards the back entrance of the house where she and Chase had agreed to meet.

Her thoughts were so full of Chase, she didn't look around the corner and bumped into someone.

"Ouch!" she exclaimed involuntarily as the impact landed her on her behind. She looked up the young man who she bumped into. He didn't seem to be affected at all and merely adjusted his glasses before silently offering her his hand.

Alexandria gratefully grabbed hold of the outstretched hand and smiled at him apologetically.

"I apologise for running into you, Mr Darnell."

Chase's older brother mildly smiled at her.

"Don't worry nothing happened. Where are you rushing off to though?" he inquired.

"I'm meeting…someone." she said, remembering just in time that the relationship between Chase and his older brother wasn't very good.

He raised his eyebrows to show he wasn't fooled.

"It's Chase, isn't it?"

Knowing that he would find out eventually that about their engagement, Alexandria nodded sheepishly.

He sighed and bent down to whisper in her ear.

"Be careful. He might not be the person you think he is."

He straightened up and walked off before she could respond. She looked after him fought to suppress the annoyance that was welling up. Why was he so against them?

Angrily, she stalked out the door and saw that Chase was waiting for her already.

As always, just seeing him made all her worries disappear. She smiled at him.

He had parked his motorbike on the sidewalk and was grinning back at her. Some people who were passing by were starting to notice him, pointing at him and whispering to each other.

"_Isn't that Chase Darnell?"_

"_Yeah, I bought his new album only yesterday. It's great!"_

"_Ohmygod, he's so hot!"_

"_I know right? Just look at that golden blond hair! And those emerald eyes! Couldn't you just die?"_

Chase, who obviously heard it all, ignored it and instead called over to Alexandria.

"You ready to go?"

"Yeah." she said when she finally got there. He gave her a peck on the mouth and pressed the spare helmet he had brought into her hands.

Alexandria blushed and quickly put on the helmet before Chase noticed. Chase had already put on his helmet and was waiting for her to get on behind him.

"_Who is that?"_

"_She can't be his girlfriend right?"_

"_No way! She's much too plain!"_

"_Eww! Did you see the clothes she's wearing?"_

Even though the helmet muffled much of the comments what Alexandria did hear still stung.

She quickly jumped on behind Chase and slung her arms around him, her head lowered against his back. He squeezed her hands reassuringly without saying anything but she understood.

Chase put his hand back on the clutch and kicked the motorbike into gear. It roared to life and they sped away.

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><p>Notes - I changed the wedding date to in 4 months time instead of 6. It fits the time frame better.<p> 


	2. Confessions and Betrayals

Disclaimer: I do not own Skip Beat! or any of its characters

Side note: This isn't a fan fiction only about the actual characters. This fan fiction is mostly about and from the point of view of an OC although I will include known characters later in the story. Also, this is set after the Heel Siblings.

Chapter 2 - Confessions and Betrayals

Some time later they arrived at huge glittering lake in the middle of a valley. He turned off the engine and let Alexandria get off before he followed suit.

She took the helmet off and shook out her hair. Holding on to the helmet she stared at the lush valley and lake in awe. Chase stood beside her and put his arm around her waist.

"It's beautiful isn't it?" he said. Alexandria looked at him and caught him looking at her, smiling. She blushed, turned her head back towards the front and nodded in agreement.

"It's so…vast." she said. "How did you find this place?"

"I filmed my last PV here." he answered, grinning. "It's going to be released next month."

"Wow, that's great." She still couldn't believe that Chase had been able to become known over the whole of America in just a couple years.

"Here, I'll take the helmet." He stretched out his hands to get it but Alexandria jumped back, a mischievous twinkle in her eyes. Chase dropped his arms to his sighed, the corners of his mouth twitching.

"Please? Can I?" she pleaded. He sighed. He knew this was going to happen.

"But not for long ok? And be careful." he warned her. The last part was drowned out by Alexandria's triumphant cry. She quickly slipped on the helmet and jumped on the motorbike.

"I'll be back soon!" she said and waved at him before gripping the clutch and starting the engine. Soon she was gone in a cloud of dust.

* * *

><p>Alexandria felt a sense of deep happiness. She felt <em>free<em>.

She threw back her head and felt the wind ripping at her hair. She felt another surge of energy and sped up. She loved feeling of the wind go by; it made her feel as if she was flying.

Once she was eighteen she could get a licence without having to ask her grandfather for permission and buy herself a motorbike. Then she and Chase could have races.

At the thought of that she grinned broadly. Chase was always able to bring out the real her, not the shadow she had conjured in an attempt to gain grandfather's acceptance. One of the many reasons why she loved Chase. That reminded her that she should probably head back. She slowed down and made a U-turn.

She came to a standstill where Chase had parked his bike before and got off reluctantly. The time she spent riding on a motorbike never seemed enough. Chase, who had been waiting in the shade of a tree, came over and took off her helmet.

"That's enough for today." he said in a mock stern voice. He grinned and bent down to kiss her. This time it was longer and more tender than the greeting peck. Alexandria's felt her lips tingle at the contact and closed her eyes. Too soon, he pulled away and ruffled her hair which promptly destroyed the romantic atmosphere.

"I'm not a dog you know." she said, feeling mildly annoyed.

"Oh, but you beg like one." Chase turned around after stowing away the helmets. Instead, he was holding a picnic basket with a blanket over it and was grinning at her. He winked.

"I brought your favourites. Can you forgive me?" He made puppy eyes at her.

"Now who's the one begging like a dog?" Alexandria muttered but a smile was tugging at the corners of her mouth. She took the blanket and spread it out where Chase had waited for her. He followed her and together they spread out the food he had brought. There was all sorts of fruit, juice and water, yoghurt and last but not least-

"A chocolate dip!" Alexandria liked clean tasting, healthy food the best but chocolate had always been a long time favourite of hers. Unfortunately she didn't get to have it much.

She hugged Chase impulsively and he laughed, automatically wrapping his arms around her.

"Let's eat, shall we?" He made an inviting gesture towards the food. They both dug in.

While they ate they talked. It was Chase who brought it up first.

"So…about the marriage thing… I hope you're okay with it." he didn't look at her as if he was afraid she was going to beat him up. She smiled gently.

"Of course I am. I'm really relieved. I mean, was supposed to marry someone, _anyone _who could take over the company. I was prepared to marry without knowing or loving my future husband. But then I turned out to be you. So, of course I'm okay with it; more than okay." She blushed, only realising now what she had said.

Chase looked at her, smiling with some kind of hidden emotion. He came closer until his face was only inches away from Alexandria's.

"You love me?" he breathed. She blushed and averted her eyes, nodding.

She sensed rather than saw his smile broaden.

"I love you, too." He kissed her again, slowly. Her eyes closed as she let herself fall in the moment. She let her empty paper plate fall beside her and wound her arms around Chase's neck and his arms encircled her waist.

Suddenly, a loud bird's cry sounded above them and they broke apart. Wide eyed they looked at each other, embarrassed. Then they began laughing holding their stomachs. When they stopped, Chase and Alexandria put their arms around each other, content to just be in each other's company.

_He loves me. He loves me. He loves me…_ it went around in Alexandria's head. _He really thinks I'm good enough for him…_

"There's another surprise for you." She turned to look at him questioningly.

"It's almost here." He smiled mysteriously.

"What do you -"

"Shh." he interrupted her, laying his index finger against her lips. He then pointed it toward the horizon which was starting to change from a deep blue into oranges, reds and pinks.

Alexandria blinked and was struck by the sunset's beauty. She had seen the sun go down before but it had never looked so spectacular. The beautiful vibrant colours where reflected on the lake's water surface, making the event even more memorable.

They sat there and watched this grand spectacle of nature until the sky was completely dark. They looked up into the sky instead of the horizon but instead of stars they saw many big rain clouds.

"We'd better get home quick." Chase said. "Looks like it's gonna rain pretty badly, soon."

Chase pulled Alexandria up and they both quickly stowed away the rest of the food and garbage in the basket. Chase went to put away the basket, Alexandria behind him with the folded blanket.

They had just put on the helmets when the first raindrops started to fall. Chase pulled Alexandria onto the motorbike and started it. Then he rode onto the quickest route to get them both home.

About halfway there the gentle rain turned into a downpour. The rain was so dense they could barely see anything let alone drive properly. They had just gotten off a highway and were just able to make out some lights that were further ahead. In unspoken agreement, Chase headed there.

When they reached the light, it luckily turned out to be a small hotel. Chase quickly parked the motorbike in one of the motorbike stalls and they both got off.

As they walked towards the entrance, Chase slipped his hand around Alexandria's. She squeezed it in response.

"I'll ask them if I can use their phone. We can call a cab to come pick us up." He said.

She nodded though she doubted that _anyone _was going to pick them up as long as it was still raining that badly.

She awkwardly stood in the waiting area while Chase was using the receptionist's phone. Alexandria didn't dare to sit down; she didn't want to get the hotels furniture wet in addition to the piece of carpet floor she was dripping water on. Both her and Chase had gotten soaked to the bones. She looked over to where he was to see how he was doing.

Chase had probably just finished talking on the phone as he gave it back to the receptionist. He bent towards her as if asking a question. The middle-aged lady looked a little dazed but shook her head apologetically. He said something again, in a more insisting tone. She scrunched up her forehead in thought then nodded.

Chase turned around and gave Alexandria a sign to come over, a relieved smile on his face.

"I called my manager and your chauffeur, but they both said that it would be too dangerous for anyone to drive in this weather." he informed her once she stood beside him. "Since it looks like it's going to stay like this for a while we're going to stay the night."

"But neither of us have any money." Alexandria protested, though that wasn't the only reason. _Overnight in a hotel with Chase? Well, I guess we can get separate rooms…_

"I cleared it up. They're gonna put it on my tab, including breakfast." Chase beamed.

"Pardon me, Mr Darnell. Here's your key. It's Room number 503." the receptionist said.

"Thank you very much." he said, aiming his trademark smile at her. He turned around and Alexandria could see the poor woman almost fainting in response.

Alexandria stayed rooted to the spot. When Chase noticed that she wasn't behind him, he turned around with a worried look on his face.

"What's the matter?" he asked in a concerned voice.

_What's the matter? You really need to ask?_

"We are…sharing a room?" she croaked instead of answering. He gave a relieved smile.

"That's what you were worried about? The room's got two beds." He chuckled and led Alexandria to the elevator. He pressed the 'up' button. The elevator must have already been on this level, because it promptly opened. They got in and pressed level 5.

"Sorry about that, but those were the only rooms left. This hotel must be pretty popular since it's otherwise fully booked." he added.

That calmed her but not by much.

* * *

><p>When they got into the room it was surprisingly chilly. They discovered they each had a set of pyjamas, towels and toothbrushes on their beds which had been provided by the hotel.<p>

"Did you want to take a shower first to warm up?" Chase yawned and stretched his arms.

_Of course, he must be tired after working so much._

"No, it's alright. You can go ahead." Alexandria assured him. Besides, by the time she was done, he might already be asleep and she wouldn't want him to catch her in pyjamas and not wearing a bra.

"You sure?"

"Yeah." she nodded and made a shoeing motion. He grinned, grabbed his towel and disappeared into the bathroom.

Alexandria inspected the room for radiators and quickly found some. She switched them on and even after only a minute or so it was starting to become warmer. She had just settled down in front one them comfortably when Chase came out of the bathroom with only a towel slung around his hips. Water droplets were falling from his still wet hair onto his bare chest.

Realising that she was gawking, Alexandria blushed furiously and got up. She quickly took the towel and set of pyjamas off her bed and disappeared into the bathroom. She thought she heard Chase chuckling as she rushed past him.

After Alexandria had taken a long hot shower, blow dried her hair and finished the rest of her evening routine, she cautiously opened the door. To her relief, the lights were out and she was able to get to her bed without difficulties. She quickly hung her wet clothes over one radiator and slipped into bed. It was warm and comfortable. Even though the day had ended like this it had been the most fun she had in a long time. She could hear Chase's even breathing from almost beside her. Surprisingly, she felt safe instead of nervous.

_He loves me._

She smiled and fell asleep.

* * *

><p>Loud thunder woke Alexandria suddenly. She clapped her hands over her ears and bit into her pillow to keep from screaming. Just when she thought it was over, an even louder thunder sounded. It increased in regularity, each one as loud as the last. She began crying violently. Her sobs shook her whole body; she couldn't seem to stop herself.<p>

Suddenly a hand grabbed her shoulder. She screamed and turned around, ready to attack.

"Hey, hey, calm down, it's me!" Chase said loudly, gripping her shoulders with his hands. "Are you alright?"

She looked at him with wide eyes. Then, another thunder sounded and she threw herself into is arms. He held her tightly and she held on to him for dear life, all the while continuing to sob. He began to pet her hair.

"Shh." Chase made soothing noises until she had calmed down enough to stop sobbing. When she had he looked at her.

"Why are you so scared?" he asked.

Alexandria hung her head, too ashamed of her emotional outburst to look at him.

"It's… a bad memory." she said quietly.

Chase waited but she stayed silent. He listened but the thunder seemed to be over.

"Are you okay now?" he asked, worried.

About nod, she flinched when lightning lit up the room. In preparation, she clapped her hands over her ears again, but no thunder was forthcoming. She was still shaking like a leaf. Chase gently removed her hands from her ears. He tipped her face towards him and saw tears glitter on her cheeks which hadn't dried yet.

"You don't need to be scared anymore. You got me, alright?"

She nodded and smiled tentatively. He kissed her tears away one by one, until he reached her lips.

In desperation to get away from the fear, Alexandria responded passionately and they fell back onto her bed. Soon her fingers were tangled in Chase's hair and his hands were starting to make their way underneath her shirt. He broke it off first.

Chase was breathing heavily.

"We shouldn't go any further." he said coarsely.

She looked up at him, fear and desperation clear in her eyes.

"Please." she said, her voice breaking. Chase looked at her seriously.

"Is this really what you want?" She nodded. His mouth curled up in a smile.

"Well, I guess we _are _getting married."

* * *

><p>Chase turned off the engine and let Alexandria get off before he did. He took her helmet and stowed away. Then he pulled off his own and bent down to kiss her, twining his free hand with hers as he did so. He pulled away and grinned at her before getting back on the motorbike. With his helmet securely on his head he turned to look at her.<p>

"Sorry, I can't stay longer. I've got to get to work on time but I'll call you later okay? And good luck with your exam."

She nodded in thanks and smiled, a little sad that he was leaving already but looking forward to his call later.

"'Bye." she said, attempting to sound happy. Chase face expression softened a little.

"Cheer up, it's not like I'm leaving forever." he said in a mock stern voice.

Alexandria smiled, this time genuinely. He grinned and kicked his bike into gear. He waved and drove away.

She waved too even though he couldn't see her. She turned towards the back entrance, feeling content. As she walked she thought about last night. She blushed. It had been quite uncharacteristic of her but Chase always seemed to manage to make her behave and feel like a complete girly-girl. That wasn't necessarily bad but it was kind of embarrassing.

Alexandria managed to get into the house and her room without anyone noticing. She had just finished changing into a fresh set of clothing when there was a polite knock at her door. She went to open it and found herself face to face with their house butler, Mr Evans. He always stood straight as a ruler, his emotions were as hard to read as his age and he always had perfect manners.

"Miss Hizuri, the master wishes to inform you that he will not take his breakfast with you in the dining hall. He also orders you to take the exam you have missed yesterday today." Mr Evans informed her in a monotone voice.

Just like that her good mood was gone. Against better judgement, Alexandria was feeling a little disappointed.

She had been gone the whole night and, top of that, spent it with a man and her grandfather didn't mention any of it. No expression of worry or even anger in his message, nothing.

She had always known that he didn't really care about her, what happened to her or what she did in her free time. But it stung all the same.

The sound of a throat clearing brought Alexandria back to reality. Mr Evans looked at her for an answer. She forced herself to smile pleasantly.

"Please tell my grandfather that I will do the exam now. I have already eaten breakfast so there is no need to serve me any."

Mr Evans gave a single nod and left. She went back into the room and caught herself in the mirror. She straightened her shoulders and smoothed her facial expression until it was a calm, collected mask. She grabbed her writing utensils off her desk and closed the door behind her as she left the room. Then she started towards the library. Alexandria suppressed a sigh as she prepared to do her final exam ever.

* * *

><p>It was early afternoon when Alexandria came back into her room, put the books on her desk and threw herself on her made bed with a groan of frustration.<p>

She had just completed the history exam and had had to sit at her desk while her teacher had marked it. As expected, she had gotten a perfect score, the same as her other subjects. After offering her empty congratulations, Miss Green had unceremoniously dumped an official looking document in front of her. It was a notification stating that Alexandria had officially finished her high school education and only required her and Miss Green's signature at the bottom. Grandfather had already signed it, quite obviously stating his high expectations of her. She had at least expected him to congratulate her in person but of course that didn't happen. It was simply ignored by him just like her birthdays. Only Mr Evans and the Darnell brothers ever noticed anything she did and never failed to wish her a happy birthday.

Lost in thought, she suddenly remembered Chase's promise from this morning and pulled out her mobile from its customary place. She held her breath as she checked it but deflated as soon as she saw '0 Missed Calls' light up on the screen. She sat up and looked around her room, lost in thought.

_Was it really only this morning? It seems so long ago…_

Her gaze got caught on the door of her closet which was slightly open. She must have accidentally left it that way when she was in a hurry to answer the knock on her door earlier.

As she had nothing better to do, Alexandria got up to close the door. Then she saw something silver flash at her from the back of the closet and remembered. She smiled. How could she have forgotten?

She pushed aside her clothes and pulled out an old fashioned leather guitar case. She blew on it to remove the dust which had gathered on it during the course of the last weeks when she hadn't touched it.

Alexandria cautiously opened it, making sure that the hinges didn't make any noise. If she was caught with mum's old guitar it would be taken away for sure. She quietly moved the upper half of the case until it was on the floor and then carefully lifted the guitar from it.

The body of the guitar was made of light-coloured wood, the rest of darker material and the sound hole was surrounded by a pretty black, swirly pattern.

Alexandria sat on her bed and placed it on her lap. Then she bent over the guitar case and picked up several pieces of paper that had been stuck underneath the guitar. They all had tightly written bars of music on them; her mum had liked to compose melodies and she had taught the skill for this as well as playing the guitar to her daughter before she died. After positioning the guitar correctly, Alexandria began to tune it quietly humming along as she did so. She then began to play her mum's songs just as quietly, coming up with lyrics while she played. She remembered her mother telling her that she seemed to have a talent for inventing the story of a song and how her mother always laughed at her own attempts.

This and the music kept Alexandria so occupied that she at first didn't notice her mobile beginning to ring. It was only when she had to let a note fade in the middle of a song that she heard the melody. She quickly but gently put down the guitar and retrieved her mobile from her pocket. Caller ID informed her it was Chase. Smiling, she pressed the pick-up button.

"Hello?"

No answer.

"Chase? Are you there?" She could feel herself growing worried. Had something happened to him?

Then, she heard a slight rustling. She felt herself grow in disappointment with the realisation that he must have pocket dialled her. About to hang up she suddenly heard a voice.

"What about the girl? Have you convinced her?"

Alexandria stiffened. It was the smooth, cool voice of Chase's beautiful, middle-aged Japanese manager Miss Mogami. She had disliked her ever since she first met her. Miss Mogami was beautiful but there was something about her, the way how her smile never seemed to reach her eyes or how those eyes always seemed like black holes sucking the light from all surroundings, that made Alexandria recoil in fear and disgust. The only word that seemed to describe Miss Mogami in her eyes, was 'cold'. It wasn't like the woman was impolite; in fact she was the epitome of perfect manners and grace but she always seemed so…detached. Then the words Miss Mogami had spoken broke through to her.

_What girl are they talking about?_

"Of course. She doesn't suspect a thing." Alexandria at first didn't realise who this cold, unfeeling voice belonged to but the next words helped her.

"_I love you_. Telling her that really was a great idea." Chase laughed, but it wasn't the usual kind. This one sent chills down her spine and not in a good way. She felt numb. What was the meaning of this?

"Well, since you were so convincing maybe you should add acting to your line of work." Miss Mogami's voice suddenly sounded seductive and closer than before. Alexandria was beginning to feel jealous and clenched her hands around the mobile. About to shout into the phone to _get her filthy paws off him_, she stopped when she heard her name.

"Ah, I'd love to but you know the conditions for marrying Alexandria. I must quit the entertainment industry. Of course that will be easier to give up than marrying her."

_What does he mean? He makes it sound as if marrying me is a burden._ She could feel her heartbeat quicken in nervousness at that thought.

"After all, I only became a singer because I wanted to see her getting crushed at not being able to fulfil her own dream and seeing someone else achieving it. I'm just using her to get to her old man's money anyway. So it's a win-win." Chase said coldly and let out a harsh laugh.

Alexandria felt the numbness spread throughout her whole body, freezing her in place. His words kept echoing around in her head: _I'm just using her to get to her old man's money…_

It wasn't possible was it? He had told her he loved her. He had sounded so sincere. And they even had…

At the thought of _this_ Chase, the one she refused to believe was the real one, touching her like that, she began to feel nauseous. She quickly held one hand to her mouth. Then she realised she was still pressing the mobile to her ear with her other hand.

"So… you really don't love her? Not even a little bit?" Miss Mogami asked, not sounding interested in the answer in the slightest.

Alexandria, on the other hand, was holding her breath, hoping for Chase to defend her even though she was suspecting the worst.

"Of course not. Who could love a plain, emotional iceblock like her? She'd be nothing without her granddaddy's money." Chase sounded harsh and uncaring. She could almost picture him making a dismissive gesture.

"Mnnh… You really are evil…just the way I like it." Miss Mogami's voice had adopted a purring sound and the silence that followed was only interrupted by sensual sounds. It was clear to Alexandria what they were doing. Already feeling sick enough, she hung up and let the mobile slide onto the floor.

She knew she should have been feeling upset or at least sad but she felt nothing. Her heart felt empty and numb, though she suspected that the pain would come later. She lay down on the bed and stared at the ceiling, unblinking. For how long she did so, she didn't know and frankly didn't care.

Alexandria only noticed that time had passed when Mr Evans knocked on the door and asked her to come down for dinner. Not wanting to move but knowing she had to, she stood up from the bed, flicked on the lights and opened the door by a fraction.

"I do apologise but I am feeling rather tired and would like to retire for sleep early." She didn't even have to fake an emotionless expression.

Mr Evans looked at her with what could almost be described as curiousity, for a long moment. Then he nodded and disappeared towards the dining hall. Alexandria closed the door and seeing the guitar lying on the floor with paper scattered around it, she quickly packed it all up. It distracted her for while until she saw her discarded mobile phone on the floor. She picked it up unsure what do with it. At that precise moment, it started ringing again, the screen lit up with 'Chase calling'. Shocked by the sudden noise, she let it fall on the floor. Alexandria began to shake with rage as she recalled the conversation in her mind. He had _used _her. Not even because of her appearance but because of money that wasn't hers.

Alexandria picked up the mobile and resisted the urge to smash it against the wall. As much as she wanted to destroy the device, she wanted to give Chase a piece of her mind.

She violently punched the pick-up button, prepared to yell into it. Then she stopped. She really didn't want it to be true. She wanted to hear what she hoped was the truth. Hoping that it all had been a mistake, she held it to her ear.

"Hello?" she said softly.

"Hey, how are you? Are you officially out of high school now?" Chase sounded like his usual self, happy and warm.

But somehow Alexandria was doubting it.

_Is this really you? Not some act to make me love you?_

"Are you there?" he said, sounding concerned. She swallowed her doubts long enough to answer.

"Yeah, I'm here. I'm okay and, yes, I'm a high school graduate now."

"Congrats! Listen, since yesterday's date didn't end so well, I was wondering if you had time tonight? Seems like an appointment cancelled so I got time."

"I'm not sure, I'm feeling kind of tired." Alexandria found herself answering. Before Chase could say anything more, she continued on.

"Um, can I ask you something?"

"Sure, what is it?" he sounded relieved that she was talking normally.

"Earlier, I got a call from you…" she began.

"Huh? When was this?"

"Early afternoon, around 1:30. It was a pocket dial." she quickly added. "You said some strange stuff…"

Alexandria could feel herself clinging to the absurd hope that it hadn't been real, that they had somehow been talking about someone other than her.

The silence on Chase's end was starting to stretch and she felt her heart grow more anxious and heavier with every passing moment.

"What did you hear?" Chase's voice suddenly sounded cold, much like the earlier version she had head heard.

"Um…from when your manager was asking if this girl really was convinced." She could feel a lump rising in her throat at repeating those words. She desperately wished that Chase would deny it all.

A slight pause.

"I guess you know everything then." Chase voice became even colder and Alexandria could feel her heart breaking as she registered these words. She could feel a suspicious moisture filling her eyes and wiped them angrily.

"I'm coming over to talk. Stay there." Chase managed to say before she interrupted him.

"Don't ever come near me. I never want to see you again." she said in a cold voice, suggesting the cold fury she felt and was threatening to spill over. She hung up and glared at the mobile. In the spur of the moment, she went into the bathroom and flushed it down the toilet.

Feeling strangely calm, she remembered Chase's last words before she hung up.

_He said he's coming over. NO WAY in HELL am I staying to listen to more of his lies!_

She knew she needed to hide if she wanted to avoid him. But anywhere inside the house was too obvious, he would find her for sure. Looking around the room, her gaze stuck on her mum's photo. The background was mostly hidden, but enough of it was visible for her to realise where and what it was.

_That's it!_

Now that a plan was starting to form in her mind, Alexandria flurried around the room. She grabbed an old but spacious backpack from inside her closet and threw several changes of clothing inside. In her hurry to pack, she accidentally dropped her mum's photo on the floor. The glass smashed into a thousand pieces but the frame stayed intact. With no time to waste, she quickly brushed the broken glass underneath her bed using a book and stuffed the photo inside her backpack. She didn't notice the envelope stuck between the photo and the frame. Done with packing, she looked at the guitar case speculatively.

_I know it's heavy but it was mum's. I can't just leave it. Besides, grandfather would throw it out if he found it._

In the end she decided to take it with her. Now she only needed to escape without anyone noticing. Alexandria stood there, thinking.

_I can't go out the front, I'd be stopped before I could even set a foot out the door. Same goes for the back entrance._

Then she saw the window. Her room was only on the first floor so it shouldn't be too far to jump. She opened it and leaned out cautiously. It was only three meters above the ground but she was feeling wobbly just looking at it. She pinched her eyes together and breathed deeply.

_Calm down, this is not the time to be distracted by something as silly as vertigo._

Alexandria turned off the lights to prevent anyone from looking for her anytime soon. As far as anyone in the house knew, she was asleep.

She then proceeded to drop her backpack and guitar case out the window, wincing as she heard the thud of the guitar falling. She hoped nothing had happened to it. She then took another calming breath before launching herself out of the window with surprising grace. She landed safely, her feet and ankles cushioning her fall. Alexandria stood up and quickly gathered her belongings. She turned around to look up at the house. She hoped not to have to see it again any time soon. Pulling the black cap she had put on to disguise herself, she straightened her back until she had perfect posture and made sure that her backpack was strapped to her back. Gripping the guitar case tightly, she faced forward and disappeared into the night.


	3. Reunion

Disclaimer: I do not own Skip Beat! or any of its characters

Side note: This isn't a fan fiction only about the actual characters. This fan fiction is mostly about and from the point of view of an OC although I will include known characters later in the story. Also, this is set after the Heel Siblings.

Chapter 3 - Reunion

Kuu Hizuri had just finished washing the dishes from dinner and dried his hands on the wash cloth hanging by the sink. He entered the living room where he found his wife Julie inserting a disk in the DVD player. He smiled as Kuon's face lit up the screen.

"No matter how many times we watch it, it's still incredible isn't it?" he said softly.

Julie looked up at him, her eyes bright with unshed tears. She smiled.

"I still can't believe how much he's grown." She looked like she wanted to say more, but was interrupted by the ringing of the doorbell. Both of them looked towards the door and then clock hanging above the TV. Kuu's brows furrowed.

"Who could it be at this time?" Julie wondered, eyes still on the clock.

The doorbell rang again, seeming to express a sense of urgency.

"I'm going, I'm going." Kuu called towards the door. Julie raised her eyebrows and he shrugged.

When he opened the door, he saw a stranger wearing a black cap, his head lowered. The stranger looked up and Kuu saw a pair of startling bluish-violet eyes. Hazelnut hair was peeking out from underneath the cap. His breath stopped.

This appearance seemed awfully familiar to him.

"Alexan-" he began hesitantly, his eyes roaming to take in the rest of the stranger's appearance. Then his eyes widened as he suddenly realised who this was.

"Yukiko?"

* * *

><p>Originally she had planned to keep her calm under all circumstances because she was afraid that once she started crying she wouldn't be able to stop. This had worked quite well, up to the moment when she had rung the doorbell and her uncle opened the door. Seeing him again after so many years had given her a shock as she had half expected him to have moved somewhere else after so long. Surprise had frozen her facial expression in place, but then he had said her real name.<p>

"Yukiko?" Kuu exclaimed, his eyes widened in surprise and shock.

_Yukiko._

Unexpected to them both, Yukiko burst out in tears. She wanted to laugh at how silly it was of her to fall apart, all because someone had called her by her real name. But her body didn't obey her will; she was wracked with sobs and trying to breathe properly.

Automatically, Kuu stepped forward and enveloped the crying girl in a comforting hug, beginning to make soothing noises. She almost started another crying fit as she felt the familiar warmth of a loved one's hug after so long.

Almost in the same instant that Yukiko had her hysterical crying outburst, she heard a familiar voice calling out from inside the house.

"Kuu, who is it?" The woman's voice was as melodic as she remembered and Yukiko raised her face from Kuu's shoulder just in time to see her step into the doorframe.

Able to finally take a breath without shuddering, Yukiko stepped out of Kuu's hug and gave a watery smile to the pair.

"Hi uncle Kuu. Aunt Julie." Julie's eyes widened in recognition and immediately pulled her inside. Leading her past Kuu who was left to close the front door, she sat her niece down on the living room sofa. Julie took in her dishevelled appearance and took off Yukiko's backpack. After unsuccessfully trying to pry her hands away from the guitar case, she sighed and smiled down at her. Bluish-violet eyes met her beautiful deep green ones and Julie sank onto the sofa beside her, hugging her fiercely.

"I m-missed you s-so m-much." Yukiko hiccupped as she finally let go of the guitar case and hugged her aunt back.

"We did too." Julie said simply, rocking her back and forth like a baby. They both knew that Yukiko would eventually have a lot of explaining to do. After all, their niece had shown up on their doorstep for the first time in ten years. On top of that, it was already night time, not exactly a good time for a young girl to be wandering about by herself.

But that could all come later. For the first time in a long time, Yukiko felt completely safe and loved (she had conveniently blocked out the memory from the previous night).

Once the hiccups had subsided a little, Julie pulled away slightly to gently wipe away Yukiko's remaining tears.

Kuu entered their field of view. He was carrying a tray with three mugs on it which, if the scent was anything to go by, contained hot cocoa. He set it down on the low coffee table and sat on Yukiko's other side. Julie had just enough time to pull away quickly before Kuu gave Yukiko a bone-crushing hug. She gave a startled squeak and remembered that this was how he always used to greet her whenever her mum came to visit with her.

"Why didn't you come visit us anymore? We missed having you around, you know? Especially Kuon." Kuu boomed, his deep voice reverberating through his broad chest.

"Hmpff hmmhp hmmff!" Yukiko's words were muffled by her uncle's bear-like frame covering hers.

"Goodness, Kuu, don't hold on to her so tightly. She's going to suffocate." Julie tried to sound stern but she couldn't quite hide the smile that was quivering at the corners of her lips.

"What? Oh, sorry." He quickly let go and gave her an apologetic smile. Yukiko coughed lightly and rubbed her neck. Looking up at Kuu she smiled.

"It's good to see you haven't changed." she said, not minding the hug in the slightest.

Kuu gave an almost sheepish smile and shrugged as if to say _What can ya do?_

He then cleared his throat and pointed at the mugs on the table.

"You might want to drink that as long as it's hot. If I remember correctly, you always loved chocolate right?"

Yukiko smiled brightly and nodded.

"Is this your special recipe?" she asked, picking up a mug and wrapping her hands around it. It was cosily warm; she hadn't noticed how cold she had gotten. As if sensing her sudden awareness of this, Julie quickly got up and crossed the room to retrieve a blanket from the basket standing in the corner.

"_One_ of his special recipes." Julie answered for her husband. She came back to the sofa and securely wrapped the blanket around Yukiko's shoulders while still leaving room for her arms and hands to hold her mug. Julie looked at Kuu in amusement who was tasting his own mug with a critical expression on his face.

"He has been experimenting a lot with hot chocolate, trying to find the 'Perfect Recipe'." Julie continued, rolling her eyes as Kuu excused himself to 'improve his chocolate' and left for the kitchen. He then popped his head out as he remembered something he forgot to ask.

"Are you hungry at all, Yukiko? I can quickly make something."

Yukiko declined, smiling. She hadn't been feeling hungry since that pocket dial.

Kuu pulled his head back inside the kitchen. Almost immediately they could hear the mixer and the sound of something being chopped.

"Believe it or not, I've been having a hard time keeping my figure with all those recipes he's been trying and inventing." Julie gave her tinkling laugh. Yukiko smiled in response.

"You don't look that different to me though." she pointed out after taking another sip of her hot chocolate, which, by the way, was delicious. It had a rich dark chocolate flavour with a citrusy undertone, orange maybe.

Julie laughed again and gave Yukiko an affectionate flick on the nose.

"Just like your mother. Always frank in stating an opinion." she said smiling. It was obviously meant as a simple statement but Yukiko froze, the mug halfway to her mouth. She set down the mug on the table and looked at Julie, sudden tears in her eyes.

"Really? You think so?" Yukiko said timidly. Julie was startled by her reaction and simply nodded. It was true after all, but what would make her niece react like this?

Sensing the shift in atmosphere as he re-entered the room, Kuu once again took place on the sofa beside Yukiko. He took a sip of his improved hot chocolate, smiled satisfactorily and set the mug down on the table.

"Now, I think it's time you explained why you came to visit us. Don't get me wrong," Kuu added hastily as he noticed Yukiko's face fall. "we love to have you over, but it's pretty late. Isn't your grandfather worried about you?"

Yukiko noticed Kuu's slight hesitance as he stumbled over 'grandfather'.

_Huh, so they still haven't made up. Not surprising, really._

Then his other words sank in and she dropped her gaze, looking at her hands around the cooling mug instead of Kuu's and Julie's faces.

"Well, I guess it all started the day of mum's funeral. You know that grandfather took me in, right?" she looked up and saw Kuu and Julie nodding at her encouragingly, even though it was clear on their faces that they were confused. Why was she telling them this?

Yukiko quickly continued, summarising the last ten years of her life, the time that had gone by since her mum's death and since last seeing them. She told them how her grandfather had refused to call her by her name and called her by her mother's instead. She told them he had her home schooled, teaching her how to act like a lady and not being satisfied with anything she did, always comparing her to 'how perfect her mother' had been. How when she met a boy three years older than her when she was ten and had never seen another child her age apart from her cousin Kuon, who she hadn't seen for years. How that same boy had become her first and only friend and helped her create a calm and emotionless mask, which grandfather seemed to like better than her real self. The comparisons didn't stop however until Yukiko became convinced that she had to change the way she looked. She knew she couldn't change that she was taller than her mother but when her friend came to visit her one day he had a different hair colour than usual. She asked how he did it and he explained to her that he had dyed it. She asked for help to dye hers and from then on she had regularly coloured her hair to match her mother's colour.

At some point Yukiko noticed that she was rambling and quickly explained what had happened in the last couple of days.

She then fell silent and sipped the rest of her hot chocolate which had grown cool. She didn't dare to look up, afraid that her aunt and uncle would be angry with her and tell her to go home. She had, after all, just admitted to running away.

At some point, Yukiko couldn't stand it anymore and slowly looked up, still afraid of how they would react.

Kuu and Julie looked stunned. They had just received a load of information summarising the last ten years of their niece's life so that was understandable. They had known that there was a lot they had missed since they didn't have any contact with her for that time, but they never would have guessed that it had been so dramatic.

Kuu was the first to react.

"So that's why your hair colour looks different from what I remember." he said jokingly, lightly tugging on a strand of her hair which had come loose after the cap had fallen off at some point. Yukiko tried to smile in response but the tension in the room was still too serious for jokes. She looked at Julie who looked completely shell-shocked.

To think that someone in the twenty first century, someone who she knew and loved had to go through something like that…!

"Julie…?" both Kuu and Yukiko asked, concerned, when she didn't move.

Completely throwing her off balance, Julie threw herself around Yukiko and gave her a crushing hug almost as tight as uncle Kuu's.

"You poor, poor child! I can't believe he arranged a marriage for you! And being so impatient about it as to even get you married before you're eighteen!" Julie fell silent, not because she didn't know what else to say but because she had gotten rid of the habit of cussing since she had a child and was having a hard time holding back.

"Well, that does sound like something dad would do." Kuu said seriously. His mouth was set in a straight line and his forehead had deep lines in them. He looked older and more serious than in any of Yukiko's memories. Then his face expression suddenly turned livid and Yukiko shrunk back in shock.

"What was that bastard who was supposed to marry you called again?" Kuu said, his voice expressing hot-boiling rage, matching his face.

"Um, well..." Yukiko was partially stunned by Kuu's sudden rage and partially trying not to think about Cha - the bastard herself. That was why she had avoided his name throughout the whole evening. It was all still too fresh in her mind and it hurt every time her thoughts accidentally touched on him. Julie sympathetically patted her arm, understanding her without words.

Kuu was still looking at her for an answer and she sighed, mentally sealing herself off before she answered.

"Have you ever heard of Chase Darnell?" Kuu and Julie's eyebrows shot up in surprise.

"You mean that big-shot singer?" Kuu asked, a speculative glint in his eye. If he was in show business, Kuu and Julie could make him suffer. He almost smiled but then remembered something. He looked at Yukiko in surprise.

"But he's in show business."

Not needing any more hints to what Kuu was getting at she nodded.

"Before he debuted a couple of years ago, he used to come to grandfather's company every day. He helped out his father at work and grandfather noticed that it always was good quality. Grandfather grew to respect him and was planning to arrange a marriage for me anyway, so I guess he thought it was the perfect match."

"But he still became a singer instead even though he knew he might eventually take over the company?" Kuu asked, frowning and trying to piece it all together.

"Well… do you keep tabs on grandfather's business transactions?" she asked him.

"Why would I?" Kuu said, trying to sound casual. Yukiko smiled a little sadly. From what she remembered what her mum had told her, Kuu had every reason to hate their father.

"A few years ago grandfather formed a partnership with the company BlackStar. The company's president had two sons - the older one who is going to take over the company once he retires and the younger one who became famous as singer. Grandfather might have married me to the older son but he married soon after the partnership. And since the younger son made such a good impression on him…" Yukiko trailed off. She had talked too much about him and tears were threatening to fall again. She blinked a few times quickly and they went away.

"Well," Kuu said, noticing Yukiko's shift in emotion. "I hate to say this but I'm not sure we can do anything. Since both BlackStar and you grandfather's company are pretty well known we wouldn't even leave a dent in them."

He looked at his wife questioningly who in turn was eyeing Yukiko worriedly. Kuu looked at the clock on the wall again and noticed that the three of them had been talking for over three hours.

"But for now, we can definitely make you feel welcome." He stood up and smiled down at his niece affectionally. Julie had noticed Kuu's look at the time and stood up as well.

"I'll go get guestroom ready." she said, her hand lingering on Yukiko's hair before leaving the room.

Yukiko stood up as well, feeling awkward. She hadn't been treated with this kind of honestly open affection for a long time and didn't know how to respond to it properly anymore.

Kuu saved her by re-introducing the rooms to her, ending the tour in the guestroom. It was sparsely decorated as the Hizuris didn't have many overnight guests, but Yukiko didn't mind. Julie had just finished putting new covers on the bed and straightened up. She smiled and pointed at the adjoining door in a wall in the room.

"That's your bathroom." Yukiko nodded and laid down her backpack and guitar case.

Then, following the Japanese customs her mother had taught her, she bowed deeply.

"Thank you very much for your kindness." She held her head low, her long hair almost brushing the floor. She felt her eyes misting up with a suspicious moisture. Yukiko began to feel irritated with herself for being so emotional. A hand gripped her shoulder and forced her to straighten up. Both Kuu and Julie looked a little embarrassed and teary.

"Don't be silly; of course we would help you. And you don't have to bow, we're family or not?"

A lump in her throat, Yukiko could only nod. Kuu gave her another crushing hug and Julie kissed her on her forehead. She noticed that they were now exactly the same height. They both smiled, stepped out the door and said, "Goodnight."

"Goodnight." Yukiko responded, a little dazed. She remembered her mum doing exactly the same as Julie had done before telling her goodnight.

Outside the door she could hear Kuu and Julie whispering.

"That bow is exactly what Kyoko would do." Kuu's voice sounded faintly as their steps moved away from the door.

"From what you told me about her, they do seem kind of similar don't they?" she could hear Julie say before Yukiko heard a door close.

_Who is Kyoko?_ Yukiko wondered while getting out her toiletries. She went into the bathroom and thoroughly brushed her teeth. She then stood in front of the shower, debating whether to get in or not. She had showered this morning in the hotel. Yukiko shuddered at the memory and decided to shower again. She was beginning to feel the stirrings of nausea as she recalled what had happened the night before. She needed to scrub away all traces of that memory, now. She turned on the hot water until it felt scaldingly hot on her skin, washed her hair twice and scrubbed at her body until it was red. Sometime while doing this, she had begun sobbing again, releasing the pent up emotions she had held in all day. Eventually, feeling defeated, Yukiko turned off the shower and rubbed herself dry, wincing. Her red skin felt tender, even using the soft towel Julie had provided and looking in the mirror she saw that her eyes were swollen. Not wanting to look at herself anymore, she quickly blow dried her hair, pulled on the set of pyjamas she had brought with her and fell onto her bed, exhausted. She didn't even bother to turn off the night table lamp.

* * *

><p>Notes - If anyone knows a better company name than BlackStar please let me know. I just made it up without really thinking so it sounds a little cheesy. Thank you.<p> 


	4. Hizuri Kuon or Tsuruga Ren?

Disclaimer: I do not own Skip Beat! or any of its characters

Side note: This isn't a fan fiction only about the actual characters. This fan fiction is mostly about and from the point of view of an OC although I will include known characters later in the story. Also, this is set after the Heel Siblings.

* * *

><p>Chapter 4 - Hizuri Kuon or Tsuruga Ren?<p>

Yukiko quickly fell asleep, but kept waking up because of nightmares. In them, Chase and grandfather had the starring roles, taking turns at insulting her and telling her how worthless she was.

In the last nightmare, she saw Chase looking at her with a cold hungry expression in his eyes, like a ruthless predator stalking the unsuspecting and helpless prey. He lunged at her, pulling at her clothes and ripping them apart. He nipped at her until the nips became painful bites. She begged him to stop but he simply ignored her. He suddenly let go of her only to begin unbuckling his pants. As understanding of what he was about to do pierced her mind, she prepared to scream but his hand was covering her mouth quick as lightning. His body moved closer to hers and he grinned in pleasure at hearing her panicked squeals. She could feel herself grow more terrified as he closed the distance between them and struggled even harder to break free. His shadow fell across her face and she thought it was all over. She took another breath and attempted to scream again, pinching her eyes together.

Then Yukiko noticed that his hand wasn't on her mouth anymore and she opened her eyes. She found herself with her mouth was wide open in preparation for the scream and looking at the light blue painted ceiling, which was still full of shadows from the pre-dawn light and the night table lamp which was still on.

She sat up and grabbed her shirt making sure it was intact. Then she looked at her surroundings and realised where she was. Yukiko expelled the breath she didn't know she had been holding. She was at her aunt's and uncle's house. In other words, she was safe.

She looked at the digital alarm clock standing on the night table and saw that it was just past four in the morning. Even though it was still early she knew she couldn't go back to sleep after _that_.

She got up and quickly got ready, then changed into a pair of comfortable faded jeans and a loose, comfortable white woollen knit sweater.

Yukiko closed the door and tiptoed towards the living room area as quietly as she could, not wanting to wake up the rest of the house residents.

In the living room, she noticed that the DVD player was still turned on. Curiously, she turned on the television screen and pressed the PLAY button.

Yukiko instantly recognised who it was that was speaking into the camera. True, they hadn't seen each other for years, but that was undoubtedly her cousin -

"Kuon."

Kuu's soft voice startled her and she quickly whisked around. Kuu was standing behind the sofa and holding a cup of coffee in his hands. He had obviously been in the kitchen having breakfast and she hadn't even noticed. He was dressed for work and smiling a little sadly.

"I'm really sorry, I shouldn't have just watched something so private without permission -" Yukiko babbled, feeling incredibly embarrassed.

"No, it's alright." Julie joined Kuu and looked at the screen, where the recorded image of her son was still speaking, oblivious to what was happening in the room. Neither spoke for a while and simply continued watching the video.

"What's wrong?" Yukiko asked hesitantly. They both looked uncharacteristically sad.

Shaken from their reverie, they both looked at her.

"It's a long story." Kuu said, when Julie turned away to hide her tears. Yukiko felt alarmed at the thought that she had done something to upset Julie. She opened her mouth to say something but Kuu interjected.

"I know you want to know what's going on, but we have to work today. I promise we'll tell you everything when we come back tonight alright?"

Yukiko nodded.

"In the meantime, feel free to use anything in this house as you please." Kuu smiled at her again. Julie, who had herself under control again, smiled at Yukiko bravely. She stepped up to her and hugged the older woman.

"I'm sorry for making you upset." she whispered and Julie squeezed her in response. They let go of each other.

Julie and Kuu walked out the door waving at Yukiko before shutting it behind them.

She looked out the living room window, not sure what to do with herself. She had actually been planning to take a walk but the gray rain clouds in the sky didn't look too inviting and she only now realised that grandfather or Chase might be out looking for her. That gave her two reasons to stay inside. She sighed.

Wandering into the kitchen, Yukiko made herself some herbal tea and ate an apple as she wasn't feeling particularly hungry.

Once the tea was done, she carried it back into the living room area where she placed it on the coffee table. Then she rummaged around the DVD cabinet, finding a lot of Japanese movies and TV shows that all had one actor in common - Tsuruga Ren. Guessing that he must be good, Yukiko picked the most appealing looking movies and piled them onto the table. She had slight problems reading the Kanji as her mum had only taught her a few basic ones and she hadn't read or spoken Japanese in a while.

After her mum's death she had kept on practicing until her grandfather had found the secret stash of practicing books in her room. In a fit of anger he had taken them all and she hadn't seen them since. That was one of the only times when he had showed any emotion toward her.

Choosing Kanji as subtitle to get used to reading it again, Yukiko pressed the PLAY button. When the main actor came into view she felt her eyes growing wide. He had dark brown hair and eyes instead being blond and green eyed and he moved differently as well, but she had clearly recognised who it was. She watched the whole movie through the end, totally enraptured by the changes she saw in the one person who had been as close to her as a big brother.

Once it was over, Yukiko put on the next movie and the next, not noticing the time go by, enchanted anew by every character the actor played. In the end, there was only one TV show left 'Tsukigomori - Dark Moon'. She purposefully left it until last. From what she understood it from DVD cover's description, it was about a young male teacher Katsuki was seeking revenge against his family's killers.

She only got through the first episode and truthfully, she didn't want to watch more. She hadn't realised that it had love scenes in it which she didn't think she could stomach right now. Furthermore, the relationship between Katsuki's fiancée and him sort of reminded her of Chase - both men had used the women for something, Katsuki for revenge and Chase for money. Yukiko only watched through to the end to see the credits; she wanted to make sure of who exactly was playing Katsuki. She leaned closer to the screen as the credits began rolling. Sure enough, it was Tsuruga Ren who played Katsuki. Then a name a little further down caught her attention: Mio played by someone called Kyoko.

Yukiko was doubly intrigued now. Not only had the actor who dominated the DVDs in the Hizuri's shelf changed remarkably with every movie role, but this Kyoko girl had seemed incredibly real. She had gotten chills just watching her. She wondered if the actress playing her was as scary in real life. Somehow reading the name 'Kyoko' seemed to ring a bell.

_Where have I heard that name before?_

Yukiko had just gotten out the disk out of the DVD player when she heard keys in the door turning. She slid the disk back into the cover and got up to see Kuu and Julie walking through the door. They were carrying a lot of grocery bags and chatting away animatedly. They looked a lot better than this morning.

"Hello, Yukiko." Kuu said, smiling at her. She smiled back, although she wasn't quite sure how she did it.

"We got off early today, so we went food shopping." Julie said happily. Her face fell as she noticed that Yukiko wasn't saying anything.

"What's wrong?" she asked, as if she could sense that there was something going on.

Yukiko swallowed, suddenly feeling nervous. She wasn't being nosy she told herself. She was family so it was fine to ask, right? She took a deep breath.

"Why is Kuon known as Tsuruga Ren?"

The atmosphere which had been so warm just a moment ago was suddenly full of tension. Kuu recovered first and looked at Julie with worry.

"I did promise to tell her everything." he said apologetically. Julie only nodded woodenly and brought her load of groceries into the kitchen. Kuu followed her, and Yukiko, not wanting to be left behind, did too.

Once in the kitchen, Yukiko offered to take care of storing the food away, but Kuu shook his head.

"I'm going to make dinner now, so it wouldn't make any sense to put the food away."

That was when she remembered that Kuu had always eaten huge amounts of food. She had always thought that her imagination had stretched the truth a little. But looking at the huge amounts of food in the kitchen it had been the exact truth.

Yukiko looked helplessly as Kuu began to wash vegetables. She noticed that asking about Kuon had made both him and Julie uncomfortable and, even though she did want to know, she didn't want to cause them any pain. Right now they were the only people she knew, who she was sure she could depend on.

"Let me help." she suggested for that reason. If she was making them feel uncomfortable she wanted to make it up to them somehow.

Shaking his head, Kuu began to massacre the washed vegetables. Yukiko reached out in another attempt to help but Julie put a restraining hand on her arm.

Yukiko looked at her in surprise and saw her aunt smiling a little, caught between sadness and amusement.

"Let him cook. It's his favourite past time and he'll find it easier to tell you when he's doing this." Julie said softly. They both looked at the back of the bear-like built man who was hacking away at different kinds of food, flitting between simmering pots and occasionally tasting something, all at the same time.

Once all that had to be done was watch over the pots and stir occasionally, Kuu turned around to face his wife and niece who had settled down on the bar stools at the counter. The kitchen was spacious enough that they weren't in the way when 'Kuu the whirlwind' was cooking.

"Well, I think you knew that Kuon was a little restless.' Kuu began. "You might not have actively noticed this because he hid it from you, but he was always a little wild. Not that we minded, he was absolutely perfect." Kuu said this seriously but his eyes had begun to sparkle. Julie, who knew that he would go off in an hour long speech in which he described in how many ways his son was perfect, cleared her throat to get his attention back to the story. She didn't particularly want to hear it but Yukiko did.

"Right." Kuu said, now back on track. "So, yes he hid from you but I also think that he forgot about it a little whenever you came over. You two were just like a real brother and sister, even though he felt he couldn't tell you all his troubles because he didn't want to worry you.

But then Alexandria died." Kuu said, his eyes slightly misting as he thought of his deceased younger sister. He blinked and it was gone.

"I think Kuon was about to turn ten that year. Anyway, so when you stopped coming over, he lost the only kid his age who didn't judge him by his background. He became angrier and wilder than before in the following months. At that point I had a movie premiere in Japan coming up and I thought taking Kuon along might help him a little. While we were there I had actually wanted to spend some time with him since we were always busy working back here. Unfortunately more work came up so I didn't spend as much time with him as I actually wanted. Still, he seemed a little calmer and happier there than here." Kuu interrupted his story to check on the simmering pots on the stove. He tasted them and muttered something beneath his breath. Grabbing seasoning from the pantry, Kuu shook some into the pots, stirred and tasted it again. Nodding, he set the timer on ten minutes. Then he turned back to face Julie and Yukiko and continued.

"But when we came back, Kuon reverted to his normal self and went downhill from there. He was being bullied at school because of his background and couldn't defend himself, so he held it all inside him. This was worsened by the press as he was trying to become an actor like me but they didn't acknowledge him because they thought he was only using his name to become famous. Then he met Rick."

Kuu smiled at Julie and she managed to smile back at him. Rick was obviously someone who had had a good influence on Kuon. Yukiko was anxious to hear more and it must have shown on her face because Kuu chuckled and resumed speaking.

"Kuon seemed better for a while. I think Rick taught him to defend himself against his bullies, but I'm not too sure of the details. Everything seemed to go really well until that day." Kuu's eyes seemed distant and Julie quickly pulled a issue from the counter to sniff into it. Yukiko had a feeling that something bad had happened.

"What went wrong?" she asked, not sure if she really wanted to hear the answer.

Kuu looked at her sadly.

"Rick died."

Yukiko was silent.

"What?" it broke out of her.

Kuu nodded in confirmation.

"I don't know the details myself, but somehow Rick seemed to have been in some kind of accident and Kuon blamed himself for it. Rick's girlfriend did too, if I remember correctly.

That was when Kuon didn't even become wild anymore. He just seemed…dead. Day after day would go by and Kuon didn't do anything. Sure, he went to school and all but the rest of the day whenever we would see him, his eyes were completely empty."

Julie really was crying now and Kuu hugged her tightly.

"Excuse me." she said, her voice a little wobbly and her face streaked in tears. She left the kitchen and disappeared somewhere in the house, probably her bedroom.

Yukiko looked after her, filled with guilt. She turned to Kuu

"I'm so sorry. I never should have brought this up." she said, the guilt she was feeling showing in her voice.

"Nonsense." Kuu said briskly. "Kuon is part of this family and so are you. Of course you have the right to know." He turned back to pots to check on them and saw that the timer had five minutes left. He turned back to Yukiko and continued.

"At exactly that time, the president of the company I had worked for in Japan, Takarada Lory of LME, came over to visit. I told him about Kuon's troubles and how worried Julie and I were about him. He listened and suggested something I never would have thought of. You see, he's known for his extremely eccentric nature. He's quite funny, actually." Kuu smiled fondly at the memory, suggesting that there was a deep bond between the two men.

"Well, so his idea was to take Kuon with him when he returned to Japan and give him the chance to start fresh. I agreed under the condition that Kuon was willing. Lory gave Kuon the chance to start over in a different country, under a different name without being pressured by others because of his background. That was when he was fifteen. Julie didn't even get to say goodbye to him because we both knew that she would never let him go willingly. Kuon left while Julie was on an overseas shooting. He swore that he wouldn't contact us at all until he had made a name for himself and become a better actor than me." Kuu smiled proudly at this.

"Neither Julie nor I have seen or spoken to _Kuon_ for the last six years." Kuu stopped talking, his tale coming to an end.

Something was beginning to stir in the back of Yukiko's mind, a half completed puzzle to which she had to find the final missing pieces.

She recalled Kuu's final sentence and noticed the emphasis that they hadn't seen or spoken to _Kuon_. She looked at him questioningly.

"So you have had contact to Tsuruga Ren?" she asked.

Kuu laughed and ruffled Yukiko's hair.

"I knew you were going to pick up on that. Yes, Tsuruga Ren is Kuon's new name in Japan but no we haven't. Or at least Julie hasn't."

The timer went off and Kuu began turning off the stove and setting the pots away.

"Could you get the cutlery and dishes? There in that drawer, beside the sink." Kuu said to Yukiko over his shoulder. She nodded and quickly handed it all to Kuu who expertly ladled the pots' contents onto the bowls. Yukiko took th efilled dishes and cutlery from him and put it all on the table. She then went to get several glasses from the cupboard, water and juice from the fridge and a bottle of wine on Kuu's request.

"Sit down already, I'll go see if I can get Julie to eat something." He disappeared into his bedroom and soon after came back with Julie in front of him.

She had obviously continued to cry but had probably stopped some time ago. Her eyes were only a slight shade of pink and not swollen at all.

Not wanting to upset her further, Yukiko and Kuu kept the dinner talk to light matters, like how work had been.

When they had all finished their dinner (Kuu taking the longest), Julie insisted that she did the dishes. She said it was unfair to Kuu to have him cook and tell the story. He shrugged, knowing better than to argue with her and sat back.

Yukiko was about to get up and help Julie but she was having none of it. Yukiko sank back down in her chair, once again feeling a little more than useless.

Then she remembered a question she had been meaning to ask. Now that Julie was out of hearing range, she could.

"Uncle, what did you mean earlier when you said that you had contact to Tsuruga Ren?"

"Exactly that." Kuu sounded calmer than sh ehad expected him to be. "You should know, Tsuruga Ren is just another character that Kuon is playing, except that this character is switched on 24/7."

"So you met him? When?" Now that Yukiko's curiosity had been piqued she wanted to hear about this strange encounter.

"Well," Kuu began and launched into his tale. He told her how he had heard of a girl Tsuruga Ren seemed to be favouring. As she worked in the same company as him and he was coming over for work, he had planned to make the girl so upset she would tell Tsuruga about it. This was supposed to make Tsuruga angry enough to come see his father who he had refused to see for so many years. Unexpectedly, the girl had resisted and even took on Kuu's challenge to become a better actress.

Julie came back into the dining area and immediately understood what Kuu was talking about. She smiled and sat down in her chair.

"Talking about our second Kuon again?" she asked, sounding happy.

Yukiko looked at her confusedly. What did she mean?

She turned to Kuu to ask but he held up a hand in signal to wait and that he was getting to it.

The acting challenge he had given to said girl was to act like his son.

"Not like _Kuon_," Kuu emphasised. "but as _son_."

Apparently she had reproduced a scarily accurate ten-year-old version of Kuon.

"If she had changed her hair and eye colour, she really could have been mistaken for a real boy." Kuu chuckled and Julie smiled warmly. She had obviously hard this story before.

In the back of her head, Yukiko's mental puzzle found another missing piece.

Kuu went off again talking about his perfect second Kuon and this time Julie let him. Her smile grew broader with every praise he gave her. Yukiko was becoming very curious about this girl. She really felt like she wanted to meet her.

"What did you say her name was?" she asked.

"Oh, I didn't tell you did I? Her stage name is 'Kyoko'." Kuu said, berating himself for leaving her name out of the story.

"Kyoko? I heard you mentioning someone called Kyoko yesterday. Is that her?"

"Oh you heard us? Sorry about that. But, yes that's her." Julie said. She beamed. "I can't wait to meet her."

_Kyoko…where else have I seen that name before…?_

Then Yukiko remembered.

"Was she in 'Dark Moon' playing that Mio girl?" She could barely keep herself from jumping up.

"Right again. She's a pretty good actress, don't you think?" Kuu looked at her expectantly.

"Yeah, she is." Yukiko said absentmindedly. She didn't catch Kuu's disappointed look aimed at her. About to open his mouth to say something, she accidentally interrupted him.

"Say, how old is she?"

"Huh?" Kuu looked surprised by the sudden question. "I'm not sure, I never asked. But I think she's about the same age as you."

Then it clicked. The final missing piece of the puzzle fell into place and a plan formed in Yukiko's mind. A plan that would help her get out of grandfather's and Chase's clutches once and for all.

* * *

><p>Notes - Sorry that it's taking so long to actually get to the part where she meets any of the Skip Beat! characters in Japan. I'll try to hurry it along a little bit. If anyone's still reading this, please review.<p> 


	5. Ren falls into a Trap

Disclaimer: I do not own Skip Beat! or any of its characters

Side note: This isn't a fan fiction only about the actual characters. This fan fiction is mostly about and from the point of view of an OC although I will include known characters later in the story. Also, this is set after the Heel Siblings.

* * *

><p>Chapter 5 - Ren falls into a Trap<p>

The next day, Kuu and Julie surprisingly had to only start work later in the day.

They all sat down for a leisurely breakfast which gave Yukiko the opportunity to explain her plan.

She had expected that they would discourage and try to talk her out of it as strongly as they could but instead found that they were seriously thinking about it.

"It could work." Kuu said, scrunching up his forehead. "But there is a big blind spot."

Kuu leaned forward.

"Can you act?"

"Why would I need to act? I'd be a musician, not an actor." Yukiko said, a little confused.

"Well, that may be true." Julie interjected. "But if you want to stay hidden you're not only going to have to look different, you're going to have to behave differently, too."

Kuu nodded in agreement.

Yukiko felt her heart sink. Was her plan not going to be able to play out as she had hoped?

But then she remembered. Had the shadow personality she had assumed for years for the sake of grandfather not been an act? Always appearing calm and pleasant on the outside, not showing any emotion. That had been what had helped her escape from being grandfather's verbal punching bag.

Betting the whole outcome of her plan on this tiny piece of evidence of her acting ability, Yukiko looked up determinedly.

"I can do it." her voice sounded strong and believing.

Kuu and Julie still looked at her with a little scepticism.

"Look, the only reason why I didn't go crazy in that house," she quickly continued before the could interrupt, "was because I had C-ch-him. And now that I found out that it was all a lie," here she rushed the sentence because she couldn't say it otherwise. "I'm supposed to marry him. I could just as well be imprisoned somewhere. Actually, that would be better."

Kuu and Julie smiled at the passionate speech given by their niece. Julie leaned over and gave her a hug.

"If you're sure about this, We'll support you. Just like we support Kuon."

Yukiko hugged her back, moved by her words. She looked up at Kuu, her face clearly stating a question. His scrunched up face was suddenly lit up by a broad grin.

"Ah, hell. This plan is better than having to live your life the way yours was laid out."

A second later, it had become a group hug.

* * *

><p>So far, it had been a normal day for Takarada Lory. He had laid out today's cosplay theme and had checked up on his favourite section in LME, LoveMe.<p>

Unfortunately, his number one member of said section hadn't been in - recently she was too busy at other jobs to check in regularly.

Since the release of 'Dark Moon' and 'Box R', Kyoko's popularity had grown somewhat and several ad campaigns as well as movie offers had sprung up. Even though she had wanted to accept all of these offers, even if to only thank them personally for their requests, Kyoko's schoolwork prevented her from doing so. It was true that her school made many exceptions for their students but taking up all of these projects would have taken up all of her time and she did want to finish high school. So she sadly declined most of the offers and only accepted one ad campaign and one movie in which she had the female lead role. Takarada had been almost as excited as Kyoko when he heard of this; it would be her official debut as an actress.

So when Takarada had gone to see how Kyoko was dealing with her schedule, he had only found Kotonami Kanae in the locker room in the process of leaving for a job. He had inquired how she was doing to which she replied that it was all starting to come together; in addition to her running drama she had received another two job offers.

She then paused and looked at the president, obviously waiting for something.

"What is it, Kotonami-kun?" Takarada had said, feigning innocence.

In response to that, Kanae had simply raised her eyebrows. That was all it took for her to express what she meant; _Why don't you just ask about Kyoko already?_

Marvelling once again at her acting skill, Takarada winced inwardly. Was he really that transparent?

"If I may ask, how is Mogami-kun lately? Is she getting used to her schedule?" he said as dignified as possible.

Kanae's mouth corners twitched.

"Last time I talked to her she was just fine. Although she _is _pretty busy lately." Kanae could feel her mind drifting toward the strange orange-haired girl with the gold eyes and shook herself out of that train of thought.

_Mo! What's wrong with me? At this rate I'm going to end up like that weirdo!_ she thought irritably. Although she would never admit it to herself, Kanae was starting to feel attached to the quirky little actress.

Takarada watched this silent change of emotion with amusement. His heart grew heavy as he realised that these slight changes in emotion were the first signs that he would soon have to let his LoveMe members become real actors. Before he could sink into a full-on depression, Kanae slammed her locker shut irritably and stalked out of the room with not even a wave in the president's direction.

He was feeling a little miffed at this but then smiled slightly. Maybe the end wasn't as near as had thought. Feeling a little better, Takarada got back onto his lavishly decorated elephant with the help of Sebastian, who had waited beside the door silently.

The rest of the morning had gone by peacefully with only minor incidents which both included shoeing the president away from the main office. Workers had complained that his elephant, Nana as he called her, was leaving dirt marks all over important paperwork.

As a consequence, Takarada had sulkily locked himself into his office. He was lounging on a huge, heavily decorated silk pillow resembling a throne, with 'servants' standing on either side of him, fanning him with gigantic white feathers.

He had been forced to send Nana back and had instead gotten himself a 'tame' tiger, Ashanti. He insisted that he had gotten her only because of their mutual love for each other, although many in the company suspected it was an act of childish defiance.

In the middle of muttering about the unfairness of the situation, Takarada was petting the large, orange-black striped cat, who was lying on a carpet at the base of the 'throne', when Sebastian appeared beside him. As always, it seemed like he had conjured himself out of thin air. He silently handed him a script with a note attached to the front.

Takarada took it and read the note. It was a movie offer for LME's star, Tsuruga Ren. Without a comment, he skimmed over the script. He now realised why the actor may have chosen to decline the offer.

A devilish grin appeared on the president's face as he recalled who would be playing Ren's love interest in the movie.

* * *

><p>Yashiro's mobile rang at the same time that Ren parked his red sportscar in the LME parking lot.<p>

He carefully pulled on a pair of rubber gloves and picked up his mobile while unfastening his seatbelt. Ren had already gotten out of the car and was waiting for Yashiro to do the same.

He hastily climbed out, pressing his briefcase to him and holding on to his still ringing mobile with his free hand. He quickly straightened up and answered it.

"Konnichiwa?" Yashiro said into the speaker. His Caller ID had informed him that it was the president calling, which was a little ironic since they had just gotten to LME.

Ren and Yashiro started toward the building's entrance, the shorter of the two slightly behind the other.

"Yashiro-kun, long time no see. How is our golden boy doing?" Takarada's deep voice boomed into Yashiro's ear.

As if he had heard that silly reference to him, Ren's back twitched. Yashiro bit back a laugh and answered.

"He's doing well. If you want to make sure of that yourself, we just entered the main foyer."

"Ah, what a coincidence! You see, I called because I have to talk to Ren about this movie offer… I really think it would help him expand his horizons."

"Was it that movie he declined?" Yashiro asked curiously.

"That's it exactly. You would think that he would have gotten more comfortable about acting out romance after 'Dark Moon'."

Before the president could go into a full-on rant about Ren's stubbornness, Yashiro quickly interfered.

"Shall I send him up?"

"It's as if you read my mind Yukihito-kun! Yes, please do."

Yashiro hung up and called out to Ren.

"The president wants to see you." he said, sliding his phone back into the briefcase and peeling off the rubber gloves.

Ren suppressed a sigh. He had guessed as much. He also thought he knew why the boss needed to talk to him.

"Alright. I'll go see what he wants." Ren said turning around to Yashiro and wearing the fake-gentlemanly smile.

Yashiro unconsciously took back a step.

"G-good." Yashiro said, voice shaking slightly. Why couldn't he just show his emotions like normal human beings? That would have less terrifying than that creepy smile. "I'll be at my desk and see if there's any work I missed."

Ren nodded and turned to leave. Yashiro visibly let out his breath as soon as that smile wasn't glaring at him anymore. His hand trembling a little, he wiped away the perspiration on his forehead.

_President, I hope for your sake that you'll give up just this once._

* * *

><p>Ren mentally strengthened his resolve to not buckle under whatever argument Takarada was going to give him.<p>

_After all I'm the one who has to act, not him._

He knocked on the door and entered when he heard Takarada's voice call out.

Upon opening door, he saw bright colours and gold everywhere. The whole room was styled like a sultan's throne room - heavy oriental style carpets covered the floor, veils covered the walls and in the middle of it all was Takarada.

The president was wearing a relatively mild colour scheme for the sultan theme but that was made up by the cut of the clothing - it looked very much like he was wearing the sultan's outfit from the hit Disney film 'Aladdin'. He was seated on something that looked like a cross between a gigantic pillow and a chair. What could be seen of the chair was a bright gold colour, the rest was covered by the deep red pillow which had a tiny glittery pattern sewn all over it. To top off this impression, female 'servants' who were scantily clothed, were holding the huge feathers typically used in movies influenced by the same theme. Behind Takarada, the ever faithful Sebastian stood, wearing an outfit that resembled a nomad's - veil, swords and all.

Any other person would have probably received an extreme culture shock at the sight of this but not Ren. As he had already known Takarada for a long time, rarely anything he did shocked him anymore.

That is, until Ren heard a feline growl from behind him and came face to face with a real life tiger. Ren jumped back in surprise and shock, eliciting booming laughter from the boss.

"Don't worry about her, Ren. Ashanti is a tame tiger, she won't hurt you. She just wants to play, don't you Ashanti?" Takarada said, changing his voice to an affectionate tone when he called the tiger's name.

Ren slightly turned his head to glare at him from the corner of his eye without letting the tiger leave his field of view. He knew that Takarada would never let a dangerous object or animal hurt anyone, but the president's standard of 'normal' were quite different from other people.

Ren became aware of this once again, as the tiger stalked close to him and sniffed him. He stood still cautiously. He had never had to work with a tiger before in a movie so he had zero experience in what would rile the tiger up.

Apparently passing the tiger's - _Ashanti_, Ren recalled - inspection, it walked past him towards Takarada who bent down, to whisper something in her ear and begin petting its head. The tiger, obviously enjoying the gesture, began to purr and laid down on the carpet in front of the 'throne'.

Takarada straightened up in his seat and gestured for Ren to sit down one of the other huge decorated pillows scattered around the floor.

Ren sat down in one of the pillows, which mildly resembled the shape of a living room stool.

He regretted it almost immediately as he sank into its depths. This made him realise that he would have a difficult time getting up from it and also why Takarada had chosen these as guest seating. He had strategically chosen seating which would basically 'trap' his guest effectively without having to use violence or shackles.

Ren glowered at his own mistake.

_I should have just remained standing._

Takarada smiled pleasantly, pretending not to notice Ren's discomfort. He waved over one the female 'servants' and she appeared with a dish laden with what looked like a pastry of some kind.

"Would you like some, Ren? It's Baklava*, simply delicious." He picked one and bit into it with a contented sigh.

Ren simply shook his head. From the looks of it, it was sweet and he had never liked sweet foods.

"No? How about some fruit then?" Takarada waved over another 'servant who held a huge platter of cut up exotic fruits.

Ren blankly stared at him.

"Boss, you know that my eating habits vary from other men my age. This kind of bribe will not convince me to take on that movie."

Takarada let out a disappointed sigh.

"Dang, you saw right through me." Then his face began to light up. Ren looked at him suspiciously. This face expression usually meant that he had something up his sleeve.

"What?" Ren in a tone as suspicious as the expression on his face. If it wasn't for keeping in character, he probably would have snapped at him. _That_ look never bode well for him.

"I'm guessing you haven't been informed about who else will be in that movie?" Takarada said nonchalantly.

"Of course not. We haven't had our first meeting yet." Ren said, a little confused as to where this was going.

"You are probably familiar with the script's story."

Ren nodded. He always familiarised himself with the script first before making a decision whether to accept or not.

"The other male lead will be played by Kijima*-kun. You remember him from 'Dark Moon'?"

Ren nodded again. He had been nice enough but a bit too much of a playboy-type for Ren to really warm to him.

"Then I'd like you to make an educated guess about who will play one of your love interests and will become that Kijima-kun role's love interest." Takarada's tone suggested excited anticipation and this, coupled with _that_ look on his face, practically screamed the answer at him.

* * *

><p>When Yashiro went to president's office to get Ren for his next appointment, he had a stunned look on his face. Ren hadn't said a word since then but judging by how he still hadn't regained his senses by the time they reached his car, Yashiro guessed it hadn't gone well on Ren's part.<p>

Yashiro silently buckled his seatbelt and waited for Ren to start the engine. Ren got as far as fitting the key in the ignition but didn't start it.

"Ren?" Yashiro asked hesitantly. "We're going to be late."

That shook Ren out of the for him unusual state and he turned the key. Yashiro sighed in relief as he heard the car's engine come to life.

Halfway to their next location, Ren said something.

"Did you know who else would be playing in the movie?"

Yashiro, startled by the sudden question, looked surprised.

"No, I didn't. It isn't like you to ask who is playing who in a movie you declined. Don't tell me the president…?"

Ren nodded, his face dumbstruck. It clearly showing that he couldn't believe he had fallen for Takarada's tricks once again.

Yashiro started laughing. The great Tsuruga Ren who practically had all of Japan at his feet, tricked by the eccentric LME President yet again! He soon got stomach cramps from laughing so hard.

"S-sorry." Yashiro giggled, once he noticed Ren glaring at him, and wiped off his laughing tears. "It's just that he seems to be the only one who can trick you into doing something you don't want to do. Besides Kyoko-chan, of course."

Ren forced himself to not react at Yashiro's mention of Kyoko. If Kijima hadn't taken one of the male leads in the same movie in which Kyoko would be playing his love interest, Ren would never have risen to the president's bait. He mentally banged his head against a brick wall. Why did he always have to act irrationally when it came to her?

* * *

><p>Takarada grinned, feeling pleased with himself. He had killed two birds with one stone - Ren took the role <em>plus <em>he would be in the first row seats to see the drama between Ren and Kyoko develop.

Of course he had noticed that there was already something between the two and he had made sure of it in the 'Heel Siblings' incident. Those two had become noticeably closer and more comfortable with each other, mentally as well as physically. Unfortunately, both of their schedules were very busy recently which barely left them any time to see each other. This film project would allow them some time with each other as well as test the new stage in their relationship.

And Takarada was looking forward to it.

Mentally plotting other plans on how he could get them closer, he absentmindedly patted Ashanti who was contentedly purring at his feet.

Suddenly, the phone rang. Used to the sudden noise, Takarada waved over to Sebastian who was already beside him and handing him the phone a gold platter.

Takarada picked it up and gave his usual greeting.

"Konnichiwa?"

He straightened up at the sound of a familiar voice speaking.

"Hello, Lory." Kuu's voice sounded on the other end of the line.

* * *

><p>Notes - * for those who don't know Baklava, it's a popular dessert in the Mediterranean area, especially Greece and in Turkey as well. It's a sweet pastry filled with chopped nuts, dates and honey or syrup. 2nd * - I'm not too sure if that's Kijima's first name or not. If anyone knows, could you please tell me what his other name is?<p>

Sorry, this chapter isn't that long compared to the previous ones.

Thank you very much for your reviews! I felt really happy that someone was reading and enjoying what I wrote. Please continue reviewing so I'll be able to improve my writing. I'll definitely will try to get the next chapter out soon.


	6. Operation X commences

Disclaimer: I do not own Skip Beat! or any of its characters

Side note: This isn't a fan fiction only about the actual characters. This fan fiction is mostly about and from the point of view of an OC although I will include known characters later in the story. Also, this is set after the Heel Siblings.

* * *

><p>Chapter 6 - Operation X commences<p>

Kuu hung up the phone, a bright smile on his face. He turned around and went into th eliving area where Julie and Yukiko had been sitting on the sofa until he was finished talking. They both looked up at him with a mixture of anxiety and anticipation.

Kuu smiled as he recalled Takarada's reaction.

_*Flashback*_

At first he hadn't said anything. Then -

"You know, Kuon was a special case. I don't intend to make a habit out of adopting strays." Takarada had sounded unusually serious, but he turned that way every time an issue came up which could affect his company's reputation. He had to make a living somehow didn't he?

"Really? What about Mogami Kyoko?" Kuu had asked, without missing a beat. He heard the boss wince and suppressed a chuckle. _Bull's eye_.

"Alright then." Takarada agreed. "I'll take her in. But she'll have to prepare properly for the LME auditions. They're in two week's time. If she can't get past them, she can't join."

He actually sounded genuinely sorry. Kuu suspected that he already had some kind of scheme planned.

"You are the president aren't you?" Kuu paused and grinned . He just couldn't resist baiting him. It made up for when he used to play Cupid for him and Julie and for his other victims. Then he continued.

"Thank you."

It was only two simple words but in them Kuu expressed all the gratitude he felt towards his former employer for helping his son, and now his niece.

Takarada must have heard or sensed this because Kuu heard a suspicious sniffling noise on the other end of the line. It became a little distant from the phone and he heard the boss blowing his nose. The phone made a loud crackling noise as it was picked up again. Kuu grimaced as it echoed in his ears.

"When should I expect her?"

Takarada's voice sounded normal again, taking on its customary cheerful undertone. Kuu couldn't believe how quickly he had warmed to the idea. But then again, he was always full of surprises.

Kuu told him the details, adding, "And send one of your normal cars please. The whole point of this is not to attract attention."

"Alright." Takarada said reluctantly. Kuu grinned, picturing the sulky pouting expression on the boss' face.

_*Flashback end*_

"Please just tell me already! Did he agree?" Yukiko's anxiety-ridden voice brought Kuu back to the present. Yukiko was standing in front of him, her hands as if clasped in prayer and looking at him. Her face suggested hope but her eyes were steeling themselves for disappointment.

Julie was still sitting, her face tense and filled with worry for her niece.

Kuu split into a broad grin.

"LME auditions are in two weeks, we've got to get everything ready." He told them.

Yukiko's eyes widened in surprise and then pleasure as it sunk in. She jumped and punched her fist into the air, letting out a triumphant "Yes!"

_She might have behaved differently from her actual personality for years, but she really hasn't changed much at all. _Kuu thought affectionately.

He looked over at his wife in concern.

Julie still hadn't moved from the sofa but was now holding her hands in front of her face and trembling. She let them slide into her lap and looked up. Her face revealed a relieved and very happy smile. She got up and hugged the excited girl.

"I'm so happy for you. This is a great chance for you to escape from what that man's plan."

Julie then pulled away and held her by the shoulders. She looked serious.

"Just remember: You are going to have to give up your disguise eventually. You won't be able to live like that forever. Come back when you think you can go up against your grandfather."

"She's right." Kuu added. "Don't lose yourself. You should always remember why you are doing it in the first place. As long as you don't lose sight of that, you'll be fine." He smiled at Yukiko.

She nodded slowly, affected by the serious atmosphere. Then her face expression brightened.

"So, when am I leaving?"

* * *

><p>Yukiko swallowed as she suddenly felt a lump in her throat. Coming up with the plan and listening to herself explain it had been easy, but now that she was actually putting it into action, she felt nervous.<p>

She took a deep breath to calm herself and gripped her luggage tightly. She took a step forward and was in front of the counter. The clerk, an average looking young male with light brown hair and eyes, smiled at her and asked her for her travelling documents.

Yukiko gently set down both pieces of luggage on the ground and retrieved her passport and airplane ticket from inside her jacket. She laid them both on the counter between them and smiled back, euphoria starting to fill her as she realised that she was going to be free.

_I can live the way I want to. Well, sort of._

The clerk, suddenly looking a little nervous, fumbled for the items and scanned them before handing them back to her.

"This here is your seat." he said a little shakily, pointing his finger at a line of writing on the ticket. Yukiko, who had never flown before and oblivious to the clerk's abnormal reaction, bent over the ticket and put her finger to where he was pointing. Her breath and hand brushed his in the process.

"Here?" she asked, looking up at him through her eyelashes. That, coupled with their touching hands, had the clerk quite flustered. He swallowed and quickly glanced around. He was obviously not the only one affected by this girl - there were several other men of varying ages in the radius of ten meters who had noticed her and looked spellbound. The clerk gave a little flinch when his eyes met that of an older but handsome blond man with brown eyes. He was glaring at him for reasons the poor boy didn't understand. The beautiful blond, older woman standing beside him put a calming hand on his arm.

The clerk quickly looked away from the odd couple and remembered what he was doing. That girl was still looking at him like that.

"Yes." he said smoothly and pulled his hand away. "Do you have any luggage to check-in?"

"Ah, yes." Yukiko smiled, ignorant to what had happened just now. She bent down and placed the blue suitcase her aunt and uncle had bought her on the luggage area.

She then hesitatingly went ahead and laid down the guitar case on it once her suitcase was checked in. She had heard of luggage getting lost and wasn't prepared to lose one of the few things in her possession which were a connection to her mother.

The clerk, noticing this, smiled in spite of himself.

"Don't worry, you'll definitely get it back." he assured her, not wanting her to feel sad. She brightened and gave him another dazzling smile. He felt as he had been hit with something to the head. Multiple times.

"Thank you very much."

* * *

><p>Kuu an Julie, who had insisted on accompanying Yukiko to the airport, were waiting in a hidden corner for her to finish checking in. He had wanted to let her fly in First Class but met steel-hard resistance on Yukiko's part.<p>

"That's not really going to ensure my leaving without catching anyone's attention is it? How often do you see a minor travelling by themselves in First Class?"

Not having been on an airplane before, Yukiko didn't know much about flying but even to her that didn't sound normal.

Kuu had caved in when he admitted that she had a point. Julie had succeeded in cheering him up, by pointing out that he would eventually have a daughter who he could spoil as much as he wanted.

Yukiko walked over to them, not noticing the amount of male attention she was getting. She had selected today's outfit with consideration that she was going to be trapped in a plane for many hours and therefore wasn't wearing noticeable, But even in loose jeans and hoodie her long legs, slender frame and developing curves were visible.

Julie was having a hard time calming Kuu down, who made threatening faces at anyone male coming near Yukiko. She was exasperated by the time her niece came back.

"Honestly, do you think you can protect her from everyone?" Julie asked him a little impatiently.

Yukiko, who came up to them at that moment, heard the question.

"Protect who from who?"

"No one." Julie said hastily before her husband could open his mouth. She looked Yukiko up and down.

"You got everything? Your passport, your ticket? The emergency numbers we gave you?" she asked her niece. She smoothed down the jacket's collar and any other wrinkles on it.

She stopped as she realised what she was doing. Julie had tears in her eyes as she remembered how she had never been able to do the same for her son before he had left.

She looked up at Yukiko who also having a hard time holding her tears back.

"It's nice having a mother care for you." she said softly, recalling the last moments with her mother. They smiled at each other through their tears.

"I think I could eat something." Kuu interrupted the melancholic moment.

Julie laughed and lightly tapped his stomach.

"You could always eat something, dear." she said, still laughing.

The trio decided to have a snack while waiting for Yukiko's flight. They sat down in a quiet corner in on of the many airport cafes and talked about light topics.

They were avoiding the big topic like 'Operation X', as Yukiko had dubbed it, for two reasons - they didn't want to say goodbye to each other since they didn't know when they would see each other again and because they didn't want to destroy the celebratory mood they had been in ever since that phone call two days ago.

Kuu had just finished his snack when Yukiko's flight was called out. They quickly paid and walked toward the appropriate terminal.

Julie checked one final time that her niece had everything she needed and Kuu made sure she knew what to do during the stopover and once she landed in Tokyo.

"Remember, the boss is sending someone to pick you up. It's a man about my height with tanned skin and black hair. He's usually not very talk active so he'll probably have a sign with your name on it." Kuu told her. He had made sure to tell the president to only use his niece's first name; otherwise she might attract too much attention.

Julie and Kuu embraced Yukiko for the last time, the two women with tears in their eyes.

"I'll miss you." their niece said, determined not to cry yet again. Julie smiled sadly and Kuu ruffled her air.

"We'll miss you, too." he said, his wife to emotional to answer. He put his arm around her and let her head sink onto his shoulder. They watched together as Yukiko walked towards the gate. She turned around and waved. Kuu and Julie waved back.

Yukiko turned back towards the gate, squared her shoulders and walked through.

* * *

><p>Their niece disappearing from view, Julie and Kuu dropped their hands.<p>

"I hope she'll be alright." Julie said worriedly. Kuu squeezed her shoulders in reassurance.

"Don't worry about her, she'll be fine as long as she keeps the important things in mind."

"But how do you know? She could get into a trouble as soon as she gets off the plane! We won't be able to help her; she'll be all alone in a strange country without knowing anyone there, except for _that _man." Julie said, becoming anxious. Kuu realised that she wasn't only worrying about Yukiko.

"Yukiko will do fine, she's like someone else I know who pulled through the most difficult parts of her life because she knew what was important to her."

"And who was that?" Julie asked, still looking toward the gate entrance. Knowing he had distracted her, Kuu smiled a little.

"My sister."

Julie looked directly at him, noticing the pain in the depths of his eyes. She forgot her own worries and laid her palm against his cheek.

"Alexandria." she said, her voice and eyes sharing Kuu's pain. He gave her a sad smile and laid his hand over her own.

"Kuon is alive and well. He's not in trouble at all." he said, looking into her eyes. Julie's mouth twitched as she realised he had seen through her once again. He had always been able to do that since day one.

Their sentimental moment was broken by a sudden commotion. A man had noticed the two famous stars in the airport and he had pointed them out wildly to his friends. The surrounding people who had heard that man's not very subtle comment had automatically wanted a look for themselves to see if it really was them. Soon, many people at the airport were stumbling and running into each other in their eagerness to see the celebrities. Kuu and Julie had been too preoccupied to notice that their was a steady audience building around them and even security was having a hard time holding them back.

Noticing that they realised what was happening, the head of security called out to them.

"You should leave now, Mr and Mrs Hizuri."

Julie and Kuu merely nodded, smiled at each other and ran.

* * *

><p>A voice over the intercom of the airplane woke Yukiko from her light dozing state. It announced that the aircraft would be landing in the next ten minutes.<p>

She lightly shook her head to clear it. She hadn't been able to sleep very well - the nervousness that had gripped her at the airport in L.A. hadn't let go of her during the entire flight. Added to this, Yukiko had forgotten to mention her vertigo to Kuu as he booked her the ticket so she had ended up in a window seat. Luckily, the aisle seat beside her had remained empty and she slid into it before the plane had taken off.

But, as she had never been on a plane before, she had one curious look out of the ascending plane and that had scared her enough that she was paralysed for the rest of the flight.

During one of her light naps an airhostess must have closed it because the window was covered by a thin sheet of plastic as Yukiko glanced toward it.

"Please set your seat in an upright position and stow your hand luggage underneath the seat in front of you." the intercom voice continued cheerily.

Yukiko numbly did as the voice had asked and blearily stared at the little monitor in front of her.

It was on 'Flight Information' which showed a map of the route they had flown. Her eyes found L.A. on the current on-screen world map and saw Tokyo on the far right side of the screen. It quite literally looked as if the two places were half a world away from one another.

Yukiko swallowed as a fresh outbreak of nerves overtook her. Had this really been the right decision?

She wondered if Kuon had felt that way. But of course he hadn't been alone and also younger than her.

Before she could panic, a friendly airhostess came up to her. She must have seen Yukiko's nervousness on her face because she gave her a soothing smile.

"Your first time on an airplane?" she asked. Yukiko gave a slight nod. The airhostess was speaking English fluently with only a slight accent.

She smiled in sympathy at the somewhat foreign looking girl.

"Don't worry, it's almost over. Many people feel like you do, even older ones."

The girl looked slightly relieved at this.

"You're a minor, aren't you? Don't you have your parents with you?"

The girl lowered her head at this, her next words barely audible.

"No. I'm travelling alone."

Startled by the sudden change in her mood, the airhostess squeezed her shoulder reassuringly.

"If your worried about what to do once you're off the plane, I can help you do what you need to do."

Again, a relieved smile.

"Thank you very much." she said, smiling warmly.

* * *

><p>Thanks to the friendly airhostess, Yukiko had gotten off the plane and through customs, as well as various other things, without a problem.<p>

She now looked around the arrival hall for the man who was supposed to pick her up.

'Tall, tan skin, black hair." she murmured as she looked for a man with these characteristics.

There were many people with dyed hair so it was almost impossible to tell where this Sebastian person was.

Yukiko had just spied a sign with her name on it (written in English letters, not Kanji). Beginning to walk toward it, she rammed into someone who was looking in the other direction.

"Hey!"

She jumped back and looked up at a tall, lanky boy about her age. He had bleached blond hair and dark brown eyes. Despite his lanky build, his toned muscles were pretty obvious.

He looked down his nose at her in disgust, annoyance clearly showing in his eyes and in the way he seemed to be shaking with anger.

She blinked. She hadn't run into him that hard, had she?

"What the hell? Watch where you're going!" he snapped at her.

Yukiko hadn't been speaking Japanese for years so she was a little rusty, but she understood enough to get what this guy had said.

She could feel her vein begin pulsing. She had never thought of herself as short tempered, but she had just gotten off a twelve hour flight while barely sleeping away any of it. In other words, she was utterly exhausted, worn out from nerves and simply fed up.

"Sorry, but it's not like it's only my fault that we ran into each other! You could have only looked in front of you and you could have avoided me!" she burst out, gesturing wildly.

He looked at her, flabbergasted. Didn't this girl know who he was?

"W-well, like you said! It's only partially my fault!" he sputtered.

Speechless in rage, Yukiko stared at him. About to open her mouth to retort, she was interrupted by a beautiful blond woman walking towards them.

"Sho, where have you been? I know we just landed but you have a tight schedule!" she said crossly. Ignoring the boy's furious protests, she dragged him off towards the exit.

A hand lightly tapped Yukiko on the shoulder. She spun around.

"Gomen nasai. Are you Yukiko-san?" a man politely asked. Yukiko nodded, feeling suspicious. How did this guy know her name? That question was answered in the man's next sentence.

"I am Sebastian. The president has sent me to pick you up."

Sebastian took Yukiko's luggage from her without a comment and started toward the exit. She followed quickly with only a small bag slung around her shoulders.

As soon as they were in the car, Yukiko was starting to feel drowsy. Tense during the whole flight, she didn't have much rest and now that she was back on safe ground, this caught up to her.

She was asleep before the car left the airport.

* * *

><p>Fuwa Sho sat down in a huff. He faced his manager, scowling.<p>

"How could you drag me away like that? _No one _dares to yell at _me _and gets away with it!"

Shoko rolled her eyes, flicking through the planner which had Sho's schedule in it.

"Kyoko-chan does." she commented.

She saw Sho flinch from out of the corners of her eyes.

She felt guilty. True, she had wanted to bring him back down to earth but she had forgotten how much even her _name _hurt him.

"Please drive to Akatoki Agency." Shoko told the driver, then turned back to her client.

"Besides, it isn't good for your image to yell at by passers. Just because the deal didn't go according to your will doesn't mean you can let out your emotions like that." Shoko tried to distract Sho while pointing out his behavioural mistakes.

Sho went back to simmering in anger as he remembered what had happened the last few days.

He had landed in L.A. to sign a record deal with the newest American rock pop idol sensation, Chase Darnell. It was supposed to have been Sho's international debut and a chance for the other to expand into Asia. He had pictured that he would land, quickly sign some papers and then fly back to Tokyo to finish some projects and then begin working on his international debut.

Unfortunately, it hadn't quite gone according to that plan. When Sho had landed, the person supposed to pick him up wasn't there.

He had furiously called Chase Darnell to see what was taking so long. Chase had answered, saying that they would have to postpone the debut because he had lost something.

'You _lost _something? What object could be worth this waste of time? We only have a limited time period before we have to debut, you know!" Sho had yelled into the phone, as he wasn't used to going things not going his way.

"If said object could ensure you a fortune, wouldn't you want to find it as soon as possible?" Chase had coolly retorted before hanging up.

Speechless at the insolence of this. Sho had stuffed his mobile back in his pocket.

The next two days, Sho tried to at least get some debut work done before he could go back to Japan.

He had been in a bad mood ever since and reverted back to his normal mood when he didn't get things the way he wanted - sulking in the corner like a child.

Shoko sighed as she saw the young singer's mood sink lower and lower. Well, at least he wasn't thinking about _her_ anymore. Glad that Sho only had one more appointment before the day was over, she put a professional smile on her face.

The driver parked in the Akatoki parking lot and Shoko looked over at Sho.

"Let's go."

* * *

><p>When Sebastian had pulled up beside the elaborate mansion, Yukiko had only been able to gape. Neither her uncle's and aunt's mansion nor her grandfather's compared to <em>this<em>.

The walls were a blinding white and the window frames painted gold and surrounded by bright, glittering mosaics, just like the door. The roof was toned down a little, though not by much: it was a shimmering, deep rust-red colour which caught the sunlight and reflected it at the mansions surrounding.

Yukiko hadn't seen the garden yet, but if it was anything like the bright and lush plants surrounding the driveway, it must be spectacular.

All in all, President Takarada Lory's living arrangements looked like a cross between an oriental palace and noble castle. It even had a delicate tower with a flag attached to it.

Before Yukiko could identify what was on it, Sebastian pulled in the garage and opened the door for her.

She quickly thanked him and went to get her luggage, but the butler already held it in his hands.

Bewildered by his quiet skill, she followed him into the building.

Sebastian led Yukiko into one of the rooms, carrying her luggage her luggage. He pointed towards a door leading into an adjoining bathroom and told her that she had a few hours before meeting the president, as he was currently at work.

She was glad for this opportunity as it meant she could freshen up before meeting anyone.

When she entered the bathroom, she was glad to find that the colour scheme was as plain as the mansion's exterior had been bright. The walls were white with a slight blue hue to it and the floor was covered in neutral coloured, Mediterranean style tiles.

The huge bathtub looked very tempting, just like the huge variety of bath salts and bubble baths standing on the rim.

Yukiko might have given in if not for the fear of falling asleep and being late with meeting for the president.

She took a quick but thorough shower, brushed her teeth vigorously and brushed her blow dried hair until it was as smooth and soft as silk.

Satisfied with her improved level of hygiene, she balled up her flight clothes and threw them into the laundry basket beside the bathroom door provided for her.

Yukiko spent a little more time on picking out clothes than she usually would; she wanted to leave a good impression on the president to slim down the chances that he would send her back.

In the end, she chose a knee length, black A-line skirt and a cream blouse to go with it. She knew it looked formal but thought it might be best. Yukiko also slipped on some black kitten heel shoes and even debated whether to put on makeup. She decided against it; she barely knew how to use it anyway and it might turn out badly.

Yukiko also braided her hair loosely, completing the clean-cut, low-key look.

She had spent so long on this that it was time to meet the president before she knew it.

She heard a knock on the door and opened it to see Sebastian.

"The president is expecting you." he said emotionlessly and led her towards a huge winged door on the far side of the corridor. Silently opening the door, he held it open and gestured for her to go inside.

From what Kuu had told her about the president, Yukiko wasn't expecting the room to look this normal. Its walls were an ordinary white and the floor was wooden with only a single, but beautiful carpet placed on it. On the carpet was a big but nondescript desk and behind the desk, there was a man with black hair and a moustache.

This man looked every bit as eccentric as her uncle had described; he was wearing a costume very similar to the clothing of an 18th century nobleman and had a gleeful look of childish expectation on his face.

Yukiko bowed gracefully with a straight back and lowered head, her hands clasped in front of her.

"Konbanwa. Ogenki desu ka, President-san?" she said, fluently without a trace of an accent.

Her mother had always been very strict in that aspect - "If you can't get rid of your accent you might as well not learn the language." she had always said. Yukiko had taken this to heart after her mother died.

Takarada suppressed a laugh upon hearing the girl's formal question. Her attitude somehow reminded him of a certain someone. Maybe even two.

"I am very well, thank you for asking. How was your flight?" The girl straightened up and looked at him, her face passive but determination with in her eyes.

"I had…slight problems but it sorted itself out." she answered, still talking formally.

Takarada smiled a little.

"It's alright to talk informally. After all, I'm your uncle's long time friend."

She hesitated, suddenly looking lost. It occurred to her that offices seemed to have that kind of effect on her - she usually talked to her grandfather in an office and had always been required to speak formally.

Yukiko strengthened her resolve. If this was going to help her stay she was going to do everything she could.

"Alright then, Takarada-san." she said, smiling a little.

Takarada was pleased to see the girl relax a little. Her back wasn't as stiff as before anymore and her legs were slightly apart. Her arms hung down loosely on either side of her. She looked like she would take anything thrown at her and succeed, or die trying.

His smile grew brighter. This really was a lot like two people he knew. Well, it wasn't really surprising, seeing how she was related to one of them.

"Well, then." he said, clearing his throat and leaning forward. "Please sit down."

Takarada took careful note of her movements as she walked to the seat opposite him at the desk.

She was walking with perfect posture and a natural grace any model, male and female alike, would kill for. Her tall height coupled with a slender frame were unusual too, a good trait to have in the entertainment industry. Her face was an elfin shape with delicate features - they suggested something foreign although she was obviously part Japanese. Her eyes were a little wider than normal, her nose a little longer and thinner and mouth a perfect heart shape, when many had double bows. And then, of course, there was her unusual eye colour - a startling shade of bluish-violet.

He had never seen eyes like that before. He smiled as he remembered who else he had given that label.

Takarada debated whether he should put her into the modelling section. She would be guaranteed to be a success. Before his internal discussion could go any further, she sat down.

"I should let you know that this year we are introducing a new audition system." Takarada told her. "We will be testing all applicants in all areas."

"B-but the only thing I can do is play a little guitar and sing." Yukiko said, feeling herself pale. "And I haven't done that in front of an audience either."

Takarada smiled at her.

"I take it you prepared something and have some reference material with you?" he asked. He had only known this girl for not even five minutes and he already wanted her to succeed. Maybe Kuu was right and he did have a soft spot for 'strays' as Kuu called them.

Yukiko nodded. She had picked out one of the simpler songs her mother had composed and added lyrics to it. She figured the simpler the piece the less chance there would be for her to forget a note although she had picked on that wasn't too easy. After all, LME were looking for talent, not something anyone can do.

"Alright then. You should continue to practice your act and figure out your character." Takarada told her.

Again, she nodded. Kuu had told her what it meant to figure out a character.

"You have to immerse yourself into the role." he had said. "Think about why the character is acting a certain way and consider what environment the role grew up in.

_That _had been the easy part. Now she needed to learn the _other _things.

"Get a good night's sleep." Takarada continued. "From tomorrow onwards you have ten days to prepare for the audition. Don't worry about the outfits, LME can provide them for you."

Takarada dismissed her, wishing her a good night and she left.

Yukiko closed her room's door behind her, letting out a relieved sigh. The first challenge, meeting the president, was won. She let out a jubilant yell and then clapped her hands on her mouth. She turned red in embarrassment and hoped the president hadn't heard her.

Yukiko quickly got ready for bed and fell asleep, a smile on her lips.

* * *

><p>Takarada grinned as he heard a faint, triumphant yell from the girl's room. Now that he knew that she could be outgoing he liked her even more. He sincerely hoped she would be able to pass the audition.<p>

The president looked at the single framed photograph on his desk forlornly. It showed a woman of rare beauty in a Kimono, her full lips turned up in a smile. He smiled at it fondly.

"It's a pity you didn't meet her." he said to the woman in a photograph. He was not only referring to the girl who had just left the room.

"You would have liked her very much."

* * *

><p>During the following ten days, Yukiko diligently practiced her guitar and singing skills and studied her reference material. Whenever she had a spare minute, she brushed up on her Japanese, speaking pronunciation as well as Kanji and Hiragana. If this was going to work out, she'd need these skills.<p>

Unfortunately, Yukiko had a tendency to forget to eat when she was distracted and she didn't eat much anyway. This said, it's safe to say her eating habits were very similar to her cousin's even though there were different reasons.

She only ate regularly, because Kuu and Julie had informed Takarada of this. He made sure that she was taking regular meals by leaving her in Sebastian's care who apparently wasn't only a butler, but a housemaid, cook and even chess partner.

The latter Yukiko found out when she was called into Takarada's office the night before the auditions.

She had to demonstrate her act and other skills while Sebastian was poring over his next move.

"Well done." Takarada said, a bright smile on his face after Yukiko had finished. "Now all we need is a name and a new look for you."

He made a quick call to someone called Ten.

"Ten, would you be able to come over? I know it's a little late but I have a new project for you to work on." All room occupants heard an excited squeal from the other end of the line and a rushed question.

"Yes, of course, in fifteen minutes is perfect." Takarada chuckled and hung up.

He glanced at the chessboard just when Sebastian made his move.

"Checkmate." was all he said.

"No fair!" Takarada exclaimed, jabbing at the chessboard. "I was on the phone!"

"Sir, you turned your head just in time to see my move." Sebastian said without a trace of remorse.

While the two men were bickering away, the winged doors of the office were flung wide open to reveal a young girl with blond bouncing curls, her arms laden with full plastic bags.

"Where's my new project?" she asked excitedly.

Yukiko assumed that this was the woman called Ten and smiled weakly at her. She looked younger than herself and she wasn't sure if she trusted the skills of someone younger than her.

The girl, as if she had read her mind, smiled and somehow managed to put her hands on her waist without dropping anything.

"Don't worry, I'm not as young as I look, I'm actually 36. My name is Jelly Woods, pleased to meet you."

Yukiko bowed, hiding her surprise at that revelation.

"Pleased to meet you, Wood-san."

She was yanked into an upright position and found herself looking down into the face of the petite woman.

"No need to be so formal with me. Just call me Jelly."

Jelly walked around her startled project, the wheels in her head turning. Once she had finished her inspection, she turned to beam at Takarada.

"Darling, this is perfect! I can definitely turn her into someone else completely!"

She turned back to look at Yukiko and winked conspirationally.

"She'll look lovely in anything."

Yukiko blushed a little at the compliment. The only who had ever told her she was pretty were her mother and….

She shook her head resolutely.

_I will not think about that jerk._

Yukiko didn't have time to curse him mentally. She was dragged away by Jelly, a bewildered look on her face. The last thing she saw before the winged doors shut in her face was Takarada and Sebastian starting a new game of chess.

* * *

><p>The next morning, Takarada waited in his office for Yukiko. Since the auditions were the major event today, there wasn't much else to do but wait until it all started.<p>

Takarada had just started playing his favourite love simulation game, when there was a polite knock at the door.

Grinning in anticipation, he turned the game off, cleared his throat and called politely.

"Come in!"

The door swung open silently and Takarada's eyes widened. He was captivated from that moment until Yukiko stopped right in front of his desk.

Takarada smiled broadly.

"This is absolutely perfect! Now, have you decided on a name?"

"Sato Yuki." came the calm answer.

Takarada's smile became even wider. The change in the sound of Yukiko's voice was so different from the way it actually sounded that no one would suspect anything. Added to that, both 'Sato' and 'Yuki' were relatively common names so it wouldn't be suspicious if someone of that name applied. Besides, combined the names had a nice ring to it.

He quickly filled in the last blank on the application form in front of him. Takarada gave her the completed form.

"Now then, since you don't want to draw unnecessary attention, I'm guessing you want to travel separately from me."

A curt nod.

"I have quite a lot of different vehicles here which not a lot of people ever see me using. Which one would you like?"

Sato Yuki smiled, somewhere in between devilish and predatory.

"Do you have a motorbike?"

* * *

><p>Notes - Thank you very much for your reviews and helpful comments. I'll try to improve and get out the next chapter soon. It's starting to get interesting!<p>

I hope you enjoyed this chapter. If you did, please review. If you have constructive crticism, please review as well.


	7. Audition

Disclaimer: I do not own Skip Beat! or any of its characters

Side note: This isn't a fan fiction only about the actual characters. This fan fiction is mostly about and from the point of view of an OC although I will include known characters later in the story. Also, this is set after the Heel Siblings.

* * *

><p>Chapter 7 -Audition<p>

The waiting room was full of applicants. Many were sitting in the chairs provided, others were standing or pacing and practicing their act one more time before the auditions started.

Kouenji Erika smiled pitifully at the surrounding people before turning back to her three faithful servants, Ruby, Todo and Sakazaki. She gestured for more tea which prompted one of them to pour some for their master.

Erika smiled prettily and sipped the hot liquid from her cup.

"I don't know why all these talent less people bother showing up. It's so obvious that none of them are going to pass." she remarked.

Her three servants nodded in agreement.

"You're so right, Kouenji-sama." they chorused. "None but you have the necessary beauty and talent to reach the stars."

"What are you doing here?" a furious voice from behind Erika exclaimed.

She smiled evilly, having already recognised who it is.

She turned around casually, flicking her hair. With satisfaction, she heard several of the male applicants give infatuated sighs.

"What does it look like, Kanae-chan? I'm applying for LME. This way I will show you once and for all who the better one out of us is."

Kanae's mouth was wide open in shock. She registered what the other girl had said and a vein was starting to throb on her forehead.

"Are you a frickin' stalker or what? It wasn't enough that you've been doing this to me during my school years, now you're trying to get back at me by applying at my agency?"

Erika turned beet red at the word 'stalker', her face contorting in anger.

"You're the one who started this, _Moko-san_. It's your own fault that I'm doing this. You practically forced me to, just like in school!" she spat at Kanae.

Kanae stopped listening after that hateful girl's spiteful use of her nickname. She found it incredibly embarrassing, but it was her best friend's name for her. _No one_ but her could call Kanae that.

Especially not this person. This person had contaminated that precious name and Kanae saw red.

"Don't you _dare _call me that." Kanae said, her voice filled with cold fury. Her forehead was almost touching Erika's and both girls were breathing heavily.

A smile crept onto Erika's face. She smirked.

"What are you going to do if I do call you that? Moko-san." Erika danced backwards, away from Kanae, an evil glint in her eye. She obviously thought Kanae hated that name and was using this taunt her.

"Moko-san, Moko-san, Moko-san." Erika sang, oblivious to the explosion about to happen.

Kanae was seething with fury. How dare that arrogant, brainless, childish brat use that name. Without any warning, she jumped on Erika, causing them both to crash into the ground.

Erika let out a wild shriek and began clawing at Kanae. Soon both girls were rolling on the floor, trying to inflict as much damage on the other as they could.

The rest of the applicants had mostly ignored the argument between the two until they actually started attacking each other. Now, more and more applicants were gathering around the two fighting girls, welcoming the distraction from their nerves.

Only a few who were still trying to ignore what was happening, were still standing or sitting in their seats, desperately trying to concentrate on their act as they waited for the audition to start.

One of these was a young male with deep brown dyed hair and dark eyes. He was standing against the wall, trying to read through some acting exercises as preparation. The vein in his forehead throbbing, he turned to another male applicant beside him.

"Pretty noisy, huh?" he said to him, trying to sound as if he didn't really mind.

The boy he had talked to was about his age, maybe a little younger, with black hair and iridescent blue eyes. His hair was cut short in the back with a longish uneven fringe which brushed his eyebrows where it was the longest*. His face had delicate features and he seemed to have a slender build even though he could be classified as average height. All of this made him look quite feminine which was contrasted by his clothing and the way he was standing. He was wearing faded grey jeans, sturdy black sneakers, a plain white T-shirt and a padded black leather jacket, like one that a motor biker would wear. A delicate gold chain hung around his neck and disappeared from view as the rest of it was tucked into his T-shirt. He was casually leaning against the wall, his legs crossed at the ankles with his arms in the same position.

In response to the young male applicant who had talked to him, he raised his eyebrows at the growing crowd and nodded. He uncrossed his arms and slid his right hand into one of his side pockets, pulling out a piece of paper. The young man beside him looked over at it curiously. The piece of paper was a flyer for today's audition and had obviously been looked at many times - the paper showed many signs of being folded and smoothed out.

The starting time for the audition clearly stated 11 a.m. The flyer also informed applicants to be at the location half an hour before the audition started and to be ready to perform and presentable.

The black haired boy glanced over at the other.

"You got the time?" he asked him.

The young man addressed almost raised his eyebrows in surprise. The other boy's voice was higher than he had expected it to be with his height, although it quite obviously was male. He took a quick look at the watch he was wearing and looked back at him.

"It's 10:45." he answered. Suddenly his nerves were starting to flutter and not even the noise made by the cheering crowd could shoo them away.

" 'Ready and presentable', huh?" The black haired boy murmured underneath his breath. "Who'd be able to get ready with all this noise?"

The other boy nodded in agreement, while the one with black hair pushed himself off the wall. He was taller when he stood up straight the other boy noted. While before he had to look down to see his face, he now was almost the same height as him.

He bent down, opened an old guitar case and took out an acoustic guitar. He stood back up and began tuning it for the audition.

The boy beside him looked on in fascination as he watched the other expertly twirl and twist at the knobs and plucking at the strings, making minor adjustments.

"So you're gonna play guitar?" he asked when he was done tuning.

"Yep." he said, beginning to warm up by playing a simple riff and switching into a harder one afterwards.

"I'm Sasaki Norio by the way." the brown haired boy introduced himself. He held out his hand.

"Nice to meet you, Sasaki-san."

"Just call me by my first name. When someone my age addresses me like that I feel old." Norio laughed, his hand rubbing the back of his neck.

The other nodded and gave a slight smile.

"Nice to meet you, Norio-kun." They shook hands and the other leaned back, plucking his guitar again.

"I'm guessing your parents don't want you to become an actor?" he asked, referring to his newly-made friends' name.

Norio rolled his eyes.

"Same old story as in many other places. As my name says, they wanted me to become a lawyer."

The black haired boy's mouth twitched with suppressed laughter. Norio appreciated his emotional control. He waited for information about his new friends' own name but none was forthcoming.

Said boy was leaning against the wall and started to play a song which started out simple and sweet but became rougher as it progressed.

He had almost finished getting through the most difficult part of the song when a loud scream pierced the air. It came from the centre of the circle that many of the applicants had built around the fighting girls.

He flinched and carefully leaned his guitar on the wall.

"Look after it while I'm gone, will you?" he said calmly as he passed by the surprised Norio.

"Hey, what're you -" he called after him. He waved his hand dismissively and half turned his head to glance at Norio.

"Don't worry, I'll be right back."

* * *

><p>Kanae and Erika had both given and received scratches and hits and it was beginning to show. Kanae's bright pink LoveMe uniform had several tears in it although she didn't mind so much. It was after all the ugliest piece of clothing she owned and she didn't even have to pay for it. The two scratches on her face, on the other hand, she did mind. One was between her jaw line and her ear which could easily be hidden but the other was right on her cheek. Furious at Erika for damaging the most visible part of her body, Kanae had gone all out.<p>

Erika's clothing was mostly undamaged but she had scratches on the back of her hands and a couple on her neck. A bright red mark was glowing on her cheek, in the shape of Kanae's hand.

Erika had let out a loud scream as she was slapped by her rival.

_How dare she touch my beautiful face?_ she thought furiously.

Now they were back to rolling around on the floor, trying to gain dominance over the other.

Without being noticed by either party, a slender, somewhat tall boy walked up and through the crowd. He got through without a problem, partially due to his bishounen looks and partially because of the cool aura he emitted. He didn't look angry or even annoyed but it was this aura which made the surrounding applicants feel that they would rather not get on his bad side.

The bishounen only stopped walking when he was right in front of the two squabbling girls. Without a word he yanked both of them into standing positions and stood between them to prevent them from tackling each other again.

"There are other people here besides you, you know? If you want to behave like little kids, go outside and find a playground." he said, his voice dangerously low so it was only audible to the two girls. He looked at them through narrowed eyes.

"Got it?"

Kanae backed off immediately, not able to believe that she had lost her cool to that extent. She shook her head to clear it of the lingering anger and looked up at the boy expressionlessly.

"I lost control of myself just now and became an embarrassment to LME. Thank you for preventing me from making it worse." she said formally, trying to keep the bit of dignity she had left.

The boy's eyebrow lifted in a gesture of respect and he nodded. He turned around to go back to where he came from and the surrounding applicants parted for him like they did before.

Erika's call stopped him in his tracks.

"Hey, you! Where do you think you're going?" Erika stomped towards him and jabbed her index finger into his chest. His eyebrow lifted again, this time in surprise.

"You humiliated me in front of everyone! I'm going to make you pay!" she yelled into his face, twisting his shirt in her hands.

His blue eyes turning colder than ice as he looked down at the girl who was shaking in anger.

"If you need someone to blame for humiliating you, blame yourself. And it's not like they helped any." he jerked his hand toward Erika's three cowering servants. During the whole spectacle, they had stood by and watched in horror, too scared that they would hurt their master if they tried to help.

Speechless that someone was trying to make her out to be villain she didn't say anything. She simply stared up at him, white with rage.

"Let go of me." he said calmly and looking into her eyes. The ice in their depths making her feel numb, Erika let go of his shirt without resisting.

Without so much as a backward glance, he continued walking towards where he had left Norio with his guitar, who was looking at him in bewilderment.

As he resumed playing his guitar as if nothing happened, he looked at him with admiring eyes.

"How did you do that without getting angry at either of them? I couldn't have pulled that off!" Norio burst out when he couldn't take it anymore.

The guitar playing broke off as the black haired boy looked at him with genuine surprise.

"Who said I wasn't angry?"

Norio looked at him, unbelieving.

"But you didn't look angry."

The boy resumed playing.

"Just because I didn't look angry doesn't mean I wasn't. I learned that showing your emotions often causes more trouble than not. Anyway, showing my anger like this was pretty effective." He paused, turning one of the knobs on the guitar.

Norio started laughing and clapped him on the shoulder.

"You're really something." he grinned.

Beginning to pluck the guitar strings once more, the other grinned back at him. Following his example, Norio read through his notes. Now that the room had quietened down, a lot of people were beginning to practice again.

Soon, they were all interrupted by an announcement over the intercom.

"LME auditions will start momentarily. Please proceed into the adjoining room."

Following the crackling announcement, all the applicants filed into the right room, feeling a little like a flock of sheep.

The adjoining room turned out to be a huge theater which could easily accommodate all of this years' applicants and then some.

Applicants were told to wait for their turn in the back rows while the jury settled down in the first. Excusing himself to go to the bathroom, the black haired boy asked Norio to keep a seat free for him.

"Sure,…" Norio said, trailing off to indicate that he still didn't know his friend's name.

"Ah, sorry. I forgot to introduce myself, huh?" he said apologetically, guilt clear on his face.

"Heh, don't worry." Norio chuckled at his friend's reaction. "It happens."

The black haired boy smiled, relieved.

"Okay, I'll be right back." He began to leave and paused to look over his shoulder.

"My name is Sato Yuki."

* * *

><p>Yukiko cautiously opened the bathroom door and peeked inside, making sure no one was there. Confirming this, she quickly jumped inside and shut the door just as fast.<p>

She laid her hands on either side of one of the sinks and leaned on them for support. She hadn't really needed to go to the bathroom but her nerves had gotten to her. She looked at the strange looking things at the wall which were supposedly men's toilets. She lightly grimaced at the reminder that she had to use the men's toilet whenever she was in public from now on.

Looking at herself in the mirror, Yukiko admitted she only had herself to blame. She closed her eyes

She had come up with this plan with the core goal being to escape her grandfather's and Chase's hold on her. She knew that it would never occur to either of them that she would enter show business - grandfather because he had forbidden her to have anything to with it and she had always obeyed him, Chase because he obviously thought she didn't have the guts or talent to do so.

When she had first met him, she had already been able to play guitar. His interest in this had made Yukiko open up eventually and they began inventing make believe games where they were a famous band. This was when she first realised and confessed to him that she wanted to be a musician when she grew up. She also knew that that would never be because of her grandfather.

A big part of Yukiko had again begin to hope when she found out that she could audition and maybe even succeed in fulfilling this dream. A smaller part of her, which she wouldn't even admit to herself, was to show that b*****d that she was someone without her grandfather's money.

To make it more difficult for them to find her, Yukiko came to Japan although truthfully she had only had that idea once Kuu and Julie told her what happened to Kuon.

As for going so far as to disguise her gender…

Yukiko knew that the chances of them finding out that she had fled to Japan were going to become greater the longer she stayed away. But when they did come here, they would be looking for a girl, not a boy. It was the last resort, the last thing keeping them from discovering where exactly she was. Hopefully, it would never go as far as that though. She wasn't planning on returning any time soon because while she was a minor, grandfather as her guardian could basically force her to do whatever he wanted. Once she was legally an adult by American standards, Yukiko was free to do as she pleased.

She had to be able to stay undiscovered until she could come out of hiding.

Yukiko opened her eyes and looked at her mirror image. She had to hand it to Jelly - she had really made Yukiko look completely different. No one would even be able to guess that her and Sato Yuki were the same person.

When Yukiko had first seen all of Jelly's dyeing products she had asked her for a favour.

After even changing her appearance to please her grandfather, Yukiko had increasingly felt trapped. She had asked Jelly to return her hair to its original colour and when she saw the result she felt as if the first lock to her golden cage had opened.

For the rest of her appearance, she had left Jelly free reign. Jelly had happily snipped away at her hair while Yukiko had tried not to flinch. She had worn her hair long for so long that she had forgotten how different it felt to have short hair.

Yukiko shook her head in front of the mirror, enjoying the light weight of her head. She ran her hand through her hair as she remembered how Jelly had taught her to style it properly. She leant closer to the mirror and carefully plucked at some strands. Looking at her different eye colour, she smiled as she recalled the debate between her and Jelly.

"But I want to look like I was born here." Yukiko had begged her. Surely it would draw attention if the rumour of a foreigner in the Japanese show industry showed up?

"Absolutely not." Jelly had resisted, taking away the dark brown lenses she had held in her hands. Jelly held up a pair of blue contacts.

"These would suit your fair complexion much better than that dark colour. It would make a nice contrast with your black hair, too."

Yukiko had only looked at her sceptically. People weren't always born with colouring that naturally suited them. Jelly sighed.

"Look, you obviously have some foreign blood in you, anyone can see that. It's going to be obvious no matter what your eye colour is."

Yukiko, defeated, had taken the contacts and managed to put them in after several tries. She had blinked until they settled the right way and looked at Jelly.

"What does it look like?"

Jelly had squealed in delight and clapped excitedly.

"Much better than I thought it would. The violet colour of your eyes give it a very pretty undertone."

Done with her inspection of herself, Yukiko breathed deeply. She closed her eyes again, mentally preparing to switch back on Sato Yuki.

The personality had not been very difficult to make because she was essentially being herself. She'd had to learn how to move, talk and behave like a boy though which had been more difficult. Making these traits more masculine, she had layered them over herself like an invisible armour.

When she opened her eyes, Sato Yuki looked at her out of the mirror. Smiling, he left the bathroom and went back to the theater.

* * *

><p>Kouenji Erika filled out the last blank on a sheet of paper they were required to give in in addition to the audition application form. It was a sheet titled 'Emotional Capacity' and several questions on it. They each asked one's reaction to reading an emotional word such as hatred, anger, euphoria, depression and, last but not least, love.<p>

Erika had sniffed her dainty nose at the last word. What can you write about love? Wasn't that already the summary of feelings concerning it?

Nonetheless, she had been required to fill it in and had quickly jotted down 'wealth, fame and success'. Confident that the jury would overlook this one dodgily answered question, she handed it in to the person collecting them. That happened to be Kanae, who narrowed her eyes at her in suppressed anger. They seemed to be saying _If you're going to audition, do it fair and square._

Erika smiled in amusement.

"So this is what kind of work they give you? Collecting paper from applicants at auditions?" she taunted her. "You must be even less talented than I thought."

Before Kanae could open her mouth to argue and start another catfight, the boy from before appeared behind her.

"Is there a problem?" he asked smoothly, a veiled threat in his voice.

Erika swallowed in sudden nervousness. Why was she nervous? If anything she should be angry at him, no, _livid_!

But the way his cold gaze bored into her, she felt a shiver run down her spine. She had never felt anything like it before. Then, of course, no one had looked at her like that before, as if they couldn't care less if she hated them. This wasn't…fear was it?

Erika's back stiffened. Impossible! She wasn't afraid of anything. But then she recalled that strange orange-haired girl who had been at that audition for the commercial. She _had _felt scared, even though she didn't admit that to anyone, least of all herself. But that had been different from this kind of spine-tingling. What was it?

Realising that she still had to say something, she opened her mouth. Nothing came out.

Kanae, seeing this abnormal reaction, widened her eyes in understanding, even though Erika looked like she didn't get it at all. She turned to look at the boy, smirking.

_Payback time for putting those scratches on my face. _Kanae thought smugly.

"So, what are you going to do today?" she asked him, casually touching his arm. He glanced at the coincidental-looking touch in confusion and then back at her face. He subtly moved his arm away and answered.

"I'll be playing the guitar and singing." Kanae furrowed her brows in irritation. Didn't this guy get that she was trying to flirt with him?

"Really? That's great. I haven't talked to an aspiring musician before." she said with a slight purring undertone. Again, she subtly tried to touch him, this time his hand.

Seeing the movement, he moved before she made contact and again gave her a confused look.

Kanae's penny dropped and she had keep her jaw from doing the same.

Even though this guy looked like _that _he was completely innocent!

She quickly glanced at Erika from out of the corner of her eye and smiled at her reaction.

Even though this attempt at flirting had obviously resulted in failure, Erika was seething, her face turning redder with every passing second. What did this girl think she was doing? That thought ran through her head before she could stop it. Her eyes widened.

_What am _I _doing?_

Norio chose this precise moment to turn up beside Yuki.

"Hey, come on. They gave us these sheets while you were gone and they're collecting them now." Norio told him, waving a blank sheet in front of Yuki. "Here, I got one for you."

Yuki took it and skimmed over it. He recognised it from this morning as one of the sheets the president had given him.

"Hand it in with your application form at the audition." he had told him before leaving in his limousine which had been decorated to look like a large, deformed pineapple.

He handed the sheet back to Norio and fished his own filled in sheet out of the breast pocket of his jacket.

"Thanks, but I got it already." Yuki said, smiling at him.

Erika felt her breath catch at that smile and turned beet red. What was happening to her?

Not noticing any of this, Yuki held out his folded sheet and application form to Kanae, who accepted it. She looked around the theater, noting that that were all the forms she had needed to collect.

She looked at Yuki once again, attempting to give him a smile with a flirty undertone since Erika was still watching.

She had been changing colours rapidly in the last few minutes, from white to pink and then deep red before the cycle repeated itself again.

Brushing past between Yuki and Erika, Kanae casually flicked her hair in his face and gave Erika a death glare which paled her beet red complexion to a deathly white.

Norio watched Yuki's vein begin pulsing in suppressed annoyance.

"What is _with _that girl?" he muttered irritably before leaving for his seat. Norio looked back at the blond girl who was rooted to the spot. She was completely white and had a shocked expression on her face. He smiled and shrugged at her apologetically and followed his friend.

Erika, who had completely forgotten the usual method she used to get what she wanted, slumped into the empty seat behind her.

* * *

><p>About to ask Yuki a question, Norio was interrupted by a loud booming voice from the front of the theater. All the applicants quickly fell quiet and looked at the man standing on the stage with a mixture of emotions.<p>

Takarada, not noticing the incredulous stares he was receiving from his audience or hearing their suppressed laughter, cheerily spoke into the microphone.

"Good morning, everyone. I am LME's president, Takarada Lory. I welcome you to this year's audition and hope you will all try your best." He paused and gave a big smile to the applicants.

They were stunned into silence at the strange man's announcement. This guy in a Hawaii shirt, hula skirt and a garland of flowers around his neck was the president of LME?

Yuki was quiet just like the rest of the applicants. He had only ever seen the president at home since he hadn't left the house since arriving, but he had assumed that the president only wore costumes at home. He actually went to work in them?

"Please remember that even if you don't get in this year, you can almost came back for next year's audition. Since we only have a limited number of people that we can admit per year, I am sure I will see many of you again." Takarada finished his welcoming speech. He climbed off the stage and took his seat in the middle of the rest of the jury - Matsushima, the head of the acting section and Nakazawa, the head of the singing section of his right, Sawara-san and Suzuki Sakura, the head of dancing and modelling on his left.

Suzuki was the only employer in LME who held two head positions and she had worked hard to get there. She had a no-nonsense attitude regarding anything to do with work and even outside of it sometimes. She was the ice-queen, the judge the most difficult to impress.

It was her who now looked at Takarada disapprovingly.

"Couldn't you at least put on a pair of shoes or some other kind of footwear?" Suzuki said icily.

Takarada chuckled in response.

"What, and ruin my perfect Hawaiian tourist costume?"

She just continued to look at him, not impressed in the slightest. The three other men cowered away from the two, expecting a bomb to go off any moment.

Takarada sighed in resignation. He bent down towards his cotton bag decorated with corals and shells and pulled something out. Tying it around his ankles, he straightened up and crossed his legs, causing whatever he was wearing on his ankles to let out a tinkle as if from small bells. He looked at Suzuki challengingly.

"There, I'm wearing 'some other kind of footwear'." he said smugly, the rest of the jury suppressing their laughter.

Takarada now had another two flower garlands around his ankles, the flowers on them big enough to cover half of each foot. Between each flower, a small bell was placed which sounded every time he moved.

Suzuki rolled her eyes, looked at the first application form and handed the microphone to the president.

He smiled at her quiet acknowledgement of defeat. Clearing his throat, Takarada called out the first person to perform.

The audition had officially begun.

* * *

><p>Erika had already done the dancing and modelling part of the audition and she had felt quite comfortable doing this.<p>

The judge responsible for those sections had gathered all the applicants in two groups, male and female. Asking one of her by standing assistants for help, she had led the girls off one side of the stage and the boys led off the other side by the young male assistant. Each group had had half an hour to learn a two minute routine to perform. Girls had been up first and Erika had smirked at Kanae when she felt her watching her.

Then, it had been _that _boy group's turn. Erika hadn't been able to keep her eyes off of him, not because he was an incredible dancer but because of the grace he displayed in his movements. She had also noticed that she wasn't the only one watching him.

Once the dancing was done, the jury had quickly made some notes and the modelling part started.

This time, girls and boys went on alternating between both genders. Erika had walked without fear, confident that she would stand out among the other girls. She suppressed a smirk as she heard boys sigh from infatuation and girls in envy. She glanced at the judges but they all guarded their emotions very well. Shrugging it off as their professionalism towards their job, she had left the stage, sure that no girl could match her performance.

What she hadn't anticipated was that a boy might be rivalling her as model, and not just any boy. It was _him_.

Walking with an incredible natural grace, looking neither girly or manly but something in between, he captured everyone's attention from the moment he stepped on the stage to when he left it.

Again, he had all eyes on him, earning looks of envy and admiration from girls and boys alike. Even the jury seemed to show how impressed they were.

Erika didn't know whether she should sigh infatuatedly like the other girls or feel peeved at this reaction. She settled for the latter and resolved to beat him in any other section that was still left. She smirked.

_I bet you're just another pretty face who can't do anything else._

Despite this, she felt a little nervous. She shook her head in annoyance. There was nothing to be scared of. He was utterly untalented, just like the rest of the fools who had auditioned.

* * *

><p>Erika plopped down in her seat, completely defeated. She couldn't believe what had just happened.<p>

Next, it had been singing auditions. Just like her other skills, Erika was confident in her singing ability - she had been taking lessons since she was five years old.

She had sung a beautiful song, full of emotion. She had let the last note fade away and opened her eyes. Erika had noted that many applicants in the room had tears in their eyes. Even a couple of the judges had suspiciously moist eyes.

First, it was completely silent, then came roaring applause.

Satisfied, she left the stage and gave the microphone to the next applicant. It was the boy. He was carrying an acoustic guitar and received the microphone with a nod. She smiled and brushed past him.

"Good luck." she whispered, a disdainful tone lacing her voice.

He didn't react and just proceeded to go on stage. Erika left, feeling a little flustered. He should show her a little respect, who did he think he was?

The boy sat down on the chair one of the jury's assistants had provided for him and adjusted the microphone stand so it was the right height. Placing the microphone in the stand, he began to twirl at the knobs. Once satisfied with the results, he played a quick riff and then started playing.

It started out with a somewhat slow, gentle sounding intro which quickly transitioned into a more rough sounding melody. It wasn't bad; it sounded interesting and new and not like a song Erika had heard before. She realised that he must have composed it himself. Then, the boy captured everyone's attention once more as he began to sing.

Combined with his guitar playing, his voice was simply mesmerising, his modelling paling in comparison to this.

When he went into the more rhythmic part of his song, people even got up and started whistling, just like a real concert.

By the end of the song, all applicants shouted for an encore. The boy smiled slightly at this and thanked everyone. He nodded at the jury who were all grinning broadly, especially Nakazawa. Even Suzuki had a thin-lipped smile on her face.

Going off stage, Yuki was surprised at the next applicant. He was cowering and shaking in fear.

Perplexed, he gave him the microphone and joined Norio who had watched the exchange with amusement. He laughed when Yuki asked him if he knew what was wrong with him.

"Dude, didn't you notice the audience's reaction to you? I'd feel sorry for anyone going up after you." he chortled. "Am I glad I've already done this part."

He wiped a laughing tear away. Yuki smiled.

Norio had been pleasant to listen to but nothing special.

"Well, next up is my specialty, so don't steal the show." Norio said, wagging his finger in front of Yuki's face in mock warning.

Yuki showed what was quickly going to become his trademark smile - devilish and predatory.

"Can't promise anything, Norio-kun."

* * *

><p>Notes - I hope this wasn't too confusing. I will be referring to Yukiko and use she, her etc from now on when she's not pretending to be Yuki who I will be referring to as him, his etc. I'm also going to try and use Japanese honorifics from now on. Please don't hate me if I get it wrong ^^, just point it out and I'll correct it, ok?<p>

I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please continue to review!


	8. Acting Love

Disclaimer: I do not own Skip Beat! or any of its characters

Side note: This isn't a fan fiction only about the actual characters. This fan fiction is mostly about and from the point of view of an OC although I will include known characters later in the story. Also, this is set after the Heel Siblings.

* * *

><p>Chapter 8 - Acting Love<p>

Erika squeezed her eyelids shut in concentration. She was not going to lose again. Not to this _brat_. She opened her eyes and glared at the piece of paper in her hands. It described a brief scenario between four people - one official couple, one girl who was the other girl boyfriend's childhood friend and had fallen for him and that girl's fake boyfriend. She was trying to make the one she actually liked jealous to make him realise that he liked her too. The scenario didn't have a script; it would require improvisation.

The acting head Matsushima had divided the applicants in groups of four, selecting them randomly.

Coincidentally, Erika had ended up in the same group as the boy and his friend. Erika had smirked at this golden opportunity. Now she was personally able to show him who was better. But before she could say anything to him, Kanae joined them.

Because they had been the last people to be selected with only them left, Matsushima had asked Kanae to jump in for the missing role. She had given in grudgingly, trying not to grimace in disgust at having to act with Erika. At least the roles they were playing weren't friends.

Erika scowled at Kanae and then turned her back on her, determined to ignore her. Kanae didn't mind; in fact she welcomed it.

"Um, I'm Sasaki Norio. Just Norio-kun is fine." the brunette boy had tried to dispel the aggressive atmosphere.

"Kotonami Kanae." Kanae had briskly introduced herself.

Erika ignored the exchange as well as Norio's offered hand..

The other boy had rolled his eyes in exasperation and turned to Matsushima who was handing out scenarios and notes numbered 1-4 to determine who would play who.

"Does it have to be those two combined?" he had asked, gesturing toward Kanae and Erika who were pointedly ignoring each other.

Matsushima gave him a stern look, pulled a random number from his bag and handed it to him.

"Professionals can work with anyone, anywhere. They can suppress their feelings completely if that will help them get the job done. If you want to get anywhere in this industry, you'd better get used to it."

Yuki flinched as if that statement had somehow hit a sensitive spot.

Matsushima proceeded to give Erika, Kanae and Norio, who was looking at Yuki in concern, the last three notes in his bag, then climbed on stage. Microphone in hand, he announced how this would go.

"I have divided all of you into four groups. I've given each group a different scenario, so don't bother spying on others to get ideas for your own. The numbers I assigned you determine which role you will be playing. No trading numbers allowed." he added, pointedly looking at a couple of boys who stared back guiltily.

"You have half an hour to read through and memorise the script as well as practice it. Start now."

Erika smiled at the number on her note. It was four, the girl with the fake boyfriend.

Kanae had one, the girlfriend and Norio had three, Erika's fake boyfriend. And then there was Yuki, as he had finally introduced himself, who had two.

That suited Erika just fine. Her role was supposed to make his role fall for him and she would accomplish that no matter what. She would make him act it out, just like Kanae and her strange friend at the Curara audition.

Feeling irritated at herself for automatically using that as an example, she read through the scenario one more time.

All around her, the groups were deep into their practice. Their group, on the other hand, had only read through the scenario and were talking amongst themselves. Excluding Erika. She felt her vein start pulsing at the way Kanae acted around Yuki.

Kanae, who had noticed Erika looking over at them began trying to flirt with Yuki again. Unfortunately, he kept avoiding, his face growing colder with irritation with every attempt. Norio was watching this with a funny expression on his face but didn't bother to help his friend.

"We really should go through this." Erika pressed out, stomping over to them. She was pointing at the paper.

Kanae stopped and smirked, knowing that her plan was working.

This gave Yuki enough time to side step Kanae's next 'attack'.

"I'd appreciate it if you'd keep your hands off me." he said calmly, ice glinting in his eyes.

Norio started laughing at this.

"That's how a girlfriend acts towards her boyfriend. Didn't you ever have a girlfriend before?"

Erika waited for the answer, holding her breath. She didn't know why but she couldn't help it. Catching Kanae smirking at her, she smoothed her facial expression and looked at her disdainfully.

"So, think you can do it without making Sato-kun cringe in disgust at your touch, _Moko_-san?"

Kanae's mouth twitched in response to the double insult.

She turned around to Yuki and smiled apologetically.

"Sorry about. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable." Kanae turned back to Erika. "Maybe you want to trade with me, Erika-chan?"

Erika, once again, turned red, spluttering.

"O-of course not! Who would even want to pretend to be that guy's girlfriend?" She screeched, her finger pointed at Yuki. He just rolled his eyes, obviously not caring what she thought of him.

Kanae just continued to look at her, her eyes stating that she knew something Erika didn't. It felt suspiciously like saying _I'm better than you_. And Erika didn't like that at all.

"Let's practice!" she spat, turning around and looking for a good spot.

They had just finished their plot line when they were interrupted.

At that exact same moment, Matsushima's magnified voice sounded from the stage.

"Alright, you're time's up! You each have five minutes to act out your scenario. Group 1, you're first!"

Erika, Norio and Yuki flinched, only Kanae stayed calm. Erika glared at them accusingly.

"I hope that you at least know who you're playing! If I fail, it's your fault!" she added, shifting her gaze to Kanae.

"Mo! How is it going to be my fault if you fail?" she heard Kanae exclaim from behind her as she sat back down.

* * *

><p>"Group 6! You're up!"<p>

Yuki breathed in deeply before stepping on stage along side his other group members.

Kanae quickly stepped beside him, slipping into the role of the loving girlfriend. She slipped her hand into his, smiling up at him as if he was the important thing in the whole world. She felt him stiffen momentarily before he relaxed a little.

When Kanae had looked at Yukiko like that, she remembered what she had felt for Chase. That had stopped her in her tracks for a moment before she grudgingly decided that the way he had treated her before was the best example she had right now. Slipping back into Yuki mode, he gave Kanae a brilliant smile.

Erika, who was on the other side of the stage, tightened her grip on Norio's arm.

She could feel herself growing annoyed yet again at seeing the interaction between Yuki and Kanae. The rational part of her brain told her it was just acting but for some reason that didn't quell the unpleasant feeling.

Not hearing his quiet protest, Erika dragged Norio on stage, determined to make Yuki submit to her acting.

* * *

><p><em>1 and 2 step on stage. They are walking hand in hand at a leisurely pace. 1 points out something to 2. 2 laughs and brushes 1's face with his hand. 1 blushes.<em>

_3 is dragged on stage by 4. 4 looks annoyed at seeing 1and 2 together, but manages to smooth her face expression into a more neutral look. 4 pulls to a stop and lays 3's arm around her waist. Adopting the same position for her own arm, she proceeds towards the other couple._

_2 (surprised) : What are you doing here? I thought you were studying._

_4: Ah, you know I needed a break. I didn't really want to but when my boyfriend called, I just couldn't resist. (giggles & gives 3 a peck on the cheek)_

_3 looks dazed. His hand goes up as if to touch his cheek, but drops it at the last moment._

_2 (looks at 3): Is that so…?_

_4 elbows 3 in waist._

_3 (dazed): Y-yeah._

_2 walks up to 3 as if inspecting him, then grins broadly, clasping his shoulders_

_2: Congrats, man! You're lucky, she's a really special girl._

_3 grins back and nods enthusiastically in agreement._

_4 blushes lightly and 1 becomes visibly jealous._

_2: She's like a little sister to me so treat her well, okay?_

_3 pales a little at implied threat but manages to hold on to a shaky smile._

_4 looks disappointed while 1 perks up. 1 walks up to the others and wraps her arm around 2's, smiling at 4._

_1 (gushes): My boyfriend has told me so much about you. You two must be really close._

_4 blushes lightly from embarrassment _

_4 (stammers): Really?_

_1 nods enthusiastically. 3 notices 4's reaction and pulls her close to him._

_3 (possessively): We're really close as well. Aren't we?_

_4 looks slightly irritated and tries to push 3 off. 3 ignores her attempts and bends her over so he can kiss her. 4 slaps 3 and he finally lets go, holding his cheek._

_3 (annoyed): What was that for? I'm your boyfriend aren't I?_

_4 doesn't answer, tears in her eyes. 1 and 2 watch the other couple in amazement._

_2 reaches out his hand towards 4._

_2 (concerned): Hey, what's wrong?_

_4 slaps 2's hand away and looks at him through angry tears. I protectively slides in front of 2. 3 soothingly puts his hands on 4's shoulders._

_1 (angry): Hands off my boyfriend!_

_4 shakes off 3. 4 ignores 1 and continues looking 2._

_4 (shouts): You're what's wrong!_

_1,2 and 3 look baffled._

_2 (surprised): Excuse me?_

_4 deflates and sinks to the floor, sobbing. Alarmed, 2 steps forward but is beaten to it by 3 who hugs her protectively and glares at 2. 2 stops and looks at 4 helplessly. 1 tugs 2's sleeve._

_1 (whispers): Maybe we should leave._

_2 continues to look at 4 concerned but nods. 1 and 2 turn back to the side of the stage where they came from._

_4 suddenly stands up, pushing 3 off._

_4 (points at 2's back): You're an idiot._

_2 stops and looks at 4 in surprise._

_2: What did I do?_

_4: You were my best friend all my life. And now you turn your back on me?_

_2 (confused): What do you mean?_

_4 (spits): Oh, don't give me that! How couldn't you have noticed?_

_2: Noticed what?_

_4 whispers something intelligible. 3 stiffens in anger at what he heard._

_2: Can you please repeat that? I didn't hear you._

_4 turns red in embarrassment._

_4 (shouts): I said, I love you!_

_1 and 2 looked stunned. 2's expression flickers between a multitude of emotions before hiding it all behind a calm mask. He walks over to 4._

_2 (expressionlessly): I thought he was your boyfriend. (points at 3 who looks at the two jealously)_

_4 shrinks away from 2, looking scared._

_4 (stammers): No. I asked him to pretend._

_3 (bursts out): But I really like you!_

_1 looks at 3 pitifully, 2 ignores him and 4's eyes widen in surprise._

_2: You used him even though he likes you._

_2 walks away back to 1._

_4 (pleading undertone): I didn't know that._

_2 says to 1: Come on, let's go._

_4 lurches after 2. 3 holds her back, silently begging her to stay. She pulls free and runs after 2._

_4: Wait!_

_4 touches 2's shoulder. 2 slaps her hand away and 4 freezes._

_2 (coldly): I hate people who use others for their own selfish goals. Don't ever come near me again._

_2 walks off stage, dragging 1 behind him by the hand. 1 looks bewildered. 4 and 3 are left on stage._

* * *

><p>It was completely silent. Then, suddenly a pen dropped, causing discussions to explode.<p>

"_Wasn't that range of emotion incredible?"_

"_Did you notice how intense the atmosphere was?"_

"_Was it supposed to end like that?"_

"_I really think that 2 should have been a little nicer 4. Weren't they supposed to be friends for a really long time before this?"_

"_You wouldn't usually be that harsh to someone who confessed to you would you?"_

Takarada heaved a disappointed sigh as he went through Sato Yuki's 'Emotional Capacity' sheet again. He had sort of expected this to happen , but it was still remarkably similar to someone else's audition.

Truthfully, Kyoko had been Takarada's reason for writing the 'Emotional Capacity' sheet. And now it turned out to be quite useful.

* * *

><p>Yuki let go of Kanae's hand as soon as he was off stage. He looked pale and drops of perspiration were building on his forehead.<p>

Kanae looked at him curiously. What was wrong with him?

Before she could ask, Norio bounded over from the other side of the stage. Erika slowly followed him.

"Looks like we did well! Everyone's talking about us!" he said excitedly.

"We didn't even finish the way we were supposed to! How is that going to impress anyone?" Erika said, annoyed.

"No one but the jury knew the whole scenario. And since they will also be judging you by the audience's response, it looks like you might still have a pretty big chance." Kanae pointed out. Norio nodded in agreement and smiled at her.

She ignored him.

Erika rounded on Yuki.

"What is wrong with you? We even discussed how exactly our characters were going to react! You were supposed to realise that you were in love with me in the end, not hate me!" she yelled at him.

Yuki didn't react. He was blankly staring at the piece of wall behind Erika's head.

Norio came up behind him, shaking him by the shoulders. Yuki's eyes suddenly widened and he jumped, facing the other three. They looked at him in bewilderment.

"I'm really sorry! I just suddenly thought of something and got distracted!" it tumbled out of his mouth.

Yuki had stopped himself just in time from bowing continuously.

Erika recovered first from his sudden change in attitude.

"You should be!" she spat. "It's going to be your fault if we all fail!"

She stormed out. Kanae rolled her eyes at her childish behaviour and Norio stared after her in amazement. He looked at Kanae.

"She always finds someone to take the blame, doesn't she?"

"Always." Kanae confirmed. She looked at her wristwatch and turned to leave.

"I've got work now, so I've gotta go." She waved over her shoulder and left.

Norio looked back at Yuki. He was still standing like before, his shoulders slumped and his head lowered.

"Heh, cheer up. Everyone can make a mistake. Anyway, the way we all managed to improvise 'cause of you showed the jury that we can think quick. That's gotta count for something or not?" he tried to cheer him up.

Yuki looked up at him, his eyes filled with sadness. Norio swallowed. This couldn't be from just this right?

"You think we'll get through?" Yuki said in a small voice.

"Definitely." Norio said with a confidence he didn't have. "Come one, let's go back. The audition's over and we won't get any results until next week."

Yuki straightened up and nodded, determination back in his eyes. Norio sighed in relief. This was more like the Yuki he knew.

"You got a ride home?" Yuki asked him while they got their things.

"Ah, no. You see, I told my parents I was going to the library to study which is right down the street to where I live." he said, laughing in light embarrassment. They passed through the exit into the public parking lot.

"Well, I can bring you to the library. If you don't mind getting a little cold."

Yuki stopped in front of a black, slim built motorbike and rummaged through its small storing space. He got out a helmet and offered it to his friend.

"You really are weird. One moment, you're all laidback, the next you look like a hurt little kid and then you pull out a motorbike." Norio said in amazement.

"Well, I guess you don't want a ride."

Yuki pulled back the helmet. Norio quickly snatched it an sat it atop his head.

"Are you kidding? I've been watching races for years! I've always wanted to learn but I can't until my parents allow me to or become an adult."

Yuki grinned at Norio and swung one leg over the motorbike. A second later, Norio was behind him. Then something occurred to him.

Norio pushed up the plexiglass attached to the front of the helmet.

"You do have a licence, right?" he said, feeling a little nervous.

Yuki gave him his trademark smile. Norio suddenly felt that maybe he would rather walk.

"What do you think?"

Norio's answer was drowned out by sound of the engine roaring to life.

* * *

><p>The evening of the audition, the president had announced that Yukiko aka Yuki had passed. Yukiko had been overjoyed and asked what sections she had passed but the president refused to say anymore.<p>

"It's already unfair to the other applicants that you already know you passed. You're just going to have to show up next week like everyone else who passed to find out more."

Yukiko had agreed, feeling a little guilty. When the president then had continued by telling her that moving out would probably be the best for her, she had agreed but then something occurred to her.

"How am I going to pay for all my living expenses? I doubt that the amount of money I'll make at LME will be enough to cover both that and rent."

"Not for long." the president had smirked. He then paused and looked at her speculatively.

"Hizuri-kun, do you go to school?"

"I was home-schooled. I just got a certificate that says I have the same qualifications as a regular high school graduate." She had proceeded to show him and Takarada squinted at it. Conversing with the Hizuris in English regularly meant that he was fluent in speaking but less so in reading or writing. He didn't understand all of the words but enough to see it was real.

"That's settled then. LME sends any minors with an incomplete school education to school and sometimes even pays for the school fees. Since you won't need that, we'll cover your rent until you can do it yourself."

Yukiko had begun to protest but the president had stopped her.

"We already know that you can't stay here. If the press got wind that one of my own talents is staying here, they would spread rumours about favouritism. That would damage both of our as well as LME's reputation." he had said seriously.

This meant that Yukiko spent the week following the audition apartment hunting. On day five she had found something ideal: it was an apartment building which was known for its safe neighbourhood and only a twenty minute ride away from LME. Each of the apartments had one bedroom, one bathroom and a kitchen. It wasn't the cheapest but it wasn't very expensive either.

Yukiko had gone to check it out and found that it was just right. The bedroom was big enough to fit a bed, a closet and a few shelves, the kitchen was small and neat and the bathroom had a shower, bathtub, toilet and a sink.

The kitchen had something that looked like a bar counter, allowing one to watch while someone used the kitchen.

Takarada was very happy for Yukiko and asked her to pick out any furniture she wanted. She again protested but he insisted.

"If you sleep on the floor, you'll get sick. A sick actor doesn't get work, so you should take care of yourself."

Relenting, she had picked a cheap single bed, a couple of high stools to put behind the counter and a small closet.

The next day, the contracts for the apartment were signed and Yukiko moved her things into it. Since she only had the suitcase full of clothes, her guitar and a small bag with a strap, but a motorbike as transport Yukiko needed to do the trip a few times before she had everything there. The furniture had been delivered by the company where she had gotten it from.

Once she had gotten the furniture, Yukiko spent all day trying to figure out how to put them together. The stools had been delivered whole, so she simply set those behind the counter before deciding that the bed would most important.

At the end of the day, Yukiko had barely managed to put the bed together.

She stepped back, surveying her handiwork. It looked sort of stable but only sleeping in it would tell if it was.

Yukiko sighed and looked at the extravagant clock on the wall which the president had insisted was a housewarming gift.

The delicate hands on its face showed that it was twenty minutes past six. Time for a break.

Yukiko grabbed her guitar before she bounded out the door. She went downstairs and into the apartment building's garden. It surrounded the back of the building and wasn't much to look at but it was enough for Yukiko to sit down and relax.

She had just found a tall tree to sit under, when she heard faint music. Recognising a guitar playing, she listened intently. It wasn't a piece she recognised but it was beautiful - the notes flowed like a gentle river. It suddenly broke off and she heard cussing.

Whoever it was who was playing began again, only to stop at the same part. This repeated so many times that Yukiko learned the whole piece just by listening to it.

Her brows furrowed in concentration. Intent on not bothering the person, she quietly tuned her guitar and started playing the same song. She paused at the same part the other had before nodding. Starting again, she played it through to the part she had heard and then continued, adding notes as they seemed to fit. Once she was confident that the melody was complete, Yukiko started singing, adding lyrics and mentally filing it all away for later.

She was so intent on what she was doing, she didn't notice that the other person had stopped playing and had come up behind her.

"If you're going to play guitar, go somewhere else. This is my spot."

Yukiko froze. That voice seemed familiar somehow although she couldn't place it. She slowly turned around and came face to face with the blond boy from the airport.

* * *

><p>Sho lifted his eyebrows arrogantly at the girlish looking boy looking up at him. His face looked familiar somehow but he wasn't sure. Dismissing the thought, he gestured rudely at the boy.<p>

"What are you staring at? This is my spot so move."

The boy's eyes narrowed dangerously. He stood up in one fluent movement while holding onto the guitar. He straightened up and Sho noticed with satisfaction that even though he wasn't short, Sho was taller.

"Why should I? I live here. The garden isn't only yours." he said calmly. He began plucking at his guitar strings, playing Sho's song. Sho looked at him with a mixture of disgust and anger.

"That's _my _song. Write your own, will you?" he snapped.

The boy had the arrogance to lift his own eyebrows at Sho.

"Your song? You can't even finish it properly."

Sho could feel his anger reaching boiling point. How _dare _he? Didn't this beanstalk know who he was?

His mouth twitched as he heard the boy's ending to his song. It sounded right, complete. Sho sneered.

"Well, it's not like you can ever use it. I already have copyright on this." he said smugly.

The boy shrugged and gave him a dangerous looking smile.

"That honestly didn't cross my mind even once. I just thought it sounded nice. But thanks for the idea." He turned around and headed back to the backdoor of the building.

Sho went red in anger.

"Don't you know who I am? I'm Fuwa Sho!" he shouted at the retreating boy's back.

The boy paused and looked over his shoulder. The look in his eyes showed that that name didn't sound familiar to him at all.

"Nice to meet you, Fuwa Sho." The words sounded empty, just like a formality. He continued. "I'm Sato Yuki. See you around."

And with that, he left Sho in the garden.

* * *

><p>Sho stormed back into his temporary apartment and punched his manager's number into the phone.<p>

"Konbanwa?" Shoko's voice sounded from the other end of the line.

"How far along are the apartment's preparations?" Sho said impatiently, not bothering with politeness.

Shoko sighed. Why did her charge always have to be so impatient?

"Sho, the preparations started last week. You can't expect your new apartment to be ready so soon."

"But this apartment is so small. And an annoyance just moved in next door." he whined.

"You find everything and everyone annoying, Sho." Shoko's voice sounded hard. "Sorry, but you're going to have to put up with it for a while."

She hung up and Sho looked at the phone, dumbfounded. He threw it on the floor in anger and flinched as he heard it break. That was the third one this month.

He shrugged and walked past, not bothering to pick it up.

Settling down on his sofa, Sho picked up his guitar and started working on another song.

* * *

><p>Yukiko woke up the next morning, feeling more tired than when she had gone to bed. She suspected that her inability to sleep probably had something to do with the cheap bed she had gotten. Mentally noting to get herself a better mattress, she got ready for the day. The shower woke her up completely and she couldn't help grinning in anticipation as she got dressed.<p>

Today was her first day at LME and she couldn't wait to find out what section she had been assigned to. She hoped to have gotten into singing but she also felt that she would like to go into acting. If Norio had passed, he would be there and he was the only friend she had made so far.

Yukiko hadn't been able to contact him the past week because she had forgotten to ask for his number and she didn't have a computer to email him.

Yukiko quickly styled her hair and put on the fine gold chain. Attached to the gold chain was a small locket.

She had found it when she had packed the suitcase her uncle and aunt had given her. It had been in an envelope that was stuck between her mother's photograph and the broken frame. The photo and the frame had slid to the bottom of her backpack when she had run away, and she only discovered the envelope when she had to get all of her things out of the backpack.

She had opened the envelope which had her name written on it in her mother's fine handwriting. Her hands had been trembling so much she had barely been able to open it.

The envelope had contained a goodbye letter to Yukiko and the locket. She had always suspected that her mother knew she was going to die soon as she had had frail health ever since she could remember.

In the letter, her mother told her how much she loved her and that she should always be happy. It also told her that the locket contained something very important and that Yukiko should always treasure it.

Upon opening the locket, Yukiko saw a tiny photograph of a younger version of her mother, happily hugging a grinning man.

She assumed that this was her father as he looked Japanese and her mother had always honoured Japanese customs. Her mother had told her it was because she loved her father very much. Apart from this and that he was in show business, which she had overheard from the many shouting matches between her mother and grandfather, Yukiko knew nothing about her father, not even his name.

Yukiko now looked at the photo again fondly, closed the locket and tucked it into her t-shirt.

Grabbing a muesli bar off the kitchen counter for breakfast, Yukiko flew out the door, looking forward to her first day at LME.


	9. Gaudy Pink Horror

Disclaimer: I do not own Skip Beat! or any of its characters

Side note: This isn't a fan fiction only about the actual characters. This fan fiction is mostly about and from the point of view of an OC although I will include known characters later in the story. Also, this is set after the Heel Siblings.

* * *

><p>Chapter 9 - Gaudy Pink Horror<p>

All of the applicants who had passed were asked to wait in a room just left of the main lobby of LME upon arrival. All in all, it was only about a dozen people or so out of the people who had applied. The room was full of people's excited voices.

Norio's smile broadened when he spotted Yuki passing through the door.

"Congrats, man. I knew you'd make it." he said, after bounding up to him.

Yuki grinned back at the taller, burly boy.

"You were pretty obvious, too."

They high-fived in victory. That feeling was short-lived however.

"Who _high-fives _anymore? Honestly, that's so childish." an arrogant voice from behind them said.

Yuki and Norio both turned around, dreading the sight awaiting them.

Erika stood there, hands on her waist and looking at them disdainfully, her assistants nowhere in sight.

"If you think that we're so childish, why bother talking to us?" Yuki asked coldly.

"Anyway, who is the one always blaming others for things that are clearly your fault? Don't you think that's childish?"

Erika turned red at this, out of embarrassment or anger, Norio couldn't tell.

"Where are your assistants?" Norio asked, desperately trying to dissolve the tension between the other two.

Erika scowled.

"I fired them. They didn't help me at the audition and I haven't found replacements yet."

"Oh." he said, at a loss what to say. The three lapsed into silence.

It didn't last long though, because the jury from the audition minus their eccentric president came into the room. They were led by a tall, beautiful but strict-looking woman. The three vaguely recalled seeing her at the audition as the only woman judge. She had barely spoken and her face had been set into disapproving lines almost throughout the entire audition.

"Silence!" she called, her voice as strict as she looked. The chattering stopped at once and all eyes turned to the front where she was standing.

"Welcome to LME. You are the lucky few whose talent has been enough to get here. However, whichever talent you possess, it does not guarantee success in this industry. You will also need to have the right attitude and be willing to work." Here she paused and gave everyone a stern look before she continued.

"Therefore, I would advise to leave right now if you do not consider being here seriously."

One of the other judges moved to put a calming hand on the woman's shoulder. He was stopped by the freezing look she gave him.

"There's no need to scare them off like that. These people were chosen because they really want to be here." he said pleasantly.

The applicants instantly took a liking to him. He smiled at them.

"Right?"

They all nodded.

"Suzuki-san, I have the list here." the receptionist's voice shy voice came from the door. A young woman entered the room and walked to the front. She handed a clipboard to the woman-judge Suzuki. Suzuki nodded curtly and the receptionist quickly left, looking relieved.

"This" Suzuki announced, pointing at the clipboard, "tells you which division you have been placed in. Your wishes have been respected although you may have a secondary or even tertiary option. Please come to the front when I call your name."

The woman called the applicants' names in alphabetical order, assigning them one of the judges according to their talent.

In the end, there were four groups; one for acting, one for singing, one for modelling and one for dancing. Acting and singing had noticeably more people in them than modelling or dancing.

Predictably, Norio had gotten into acting while Yuki and Erika tried to decipher the meaning of their sheets. It wasn't a section they had heard of before. About to ask, they looked up only to see that the groups were leaving with the head of their sections.

Norio shot them an apologetic look.

"I'll see you later, okay?" he said guiltily to Yuki.

Yuki smiled at him.

"No prob. Make sure you tell me what happened, 'kay?"

Norio looked up into his friend's face and smiled in relief. A grin stretched over his face.

"Sure thing." he cheerily called over his shoulder before following his group.

That left Erika with Yuki. Before they could rip each other to shreds, the only judge without a group came up to them.

"You two are the only ones left. Is there something wrong with your sheets?" he asked, reaching for them. Yuki and Erika both gave him theirs without a comment.

The man's face lit up as he read through their sheets. He looked up at them in a mixture of pity and amusement.

"I remember you two now. So that's what's going on. Come on, the president requested to see you." He turned to walk out of the room and then paused.

"I'm Sawara-san, by the way, in case you've forgotten."

"Kouenji Erika." she emphasised her name to reinforce that she had the power of her father's company behind her.

Sawara took it in expressionlessly and shook her hand. He turned to Yuki and held out his hand.

"Sato Yuki." he said, taking it. He smiled at the calm expression on his face.

"Well, then follow me."

* * *

><p>"You're kidding, right?" Yuki said incredulously.<p>

"There's no way that I'm wearing this!" Erika screeched. She pointed at the garish pink garment she had thrown on the floor.

After getting over the initial shock of today's cosplay theme - Spanish/Mexican - Sawara had left them with the president who had welcomed them with a bright smile.

The president looked at them from underneath the rim of his colourful sombrero.

"Of course I mean it. I don't make jokes about clothing." he said, sounding slightly offended.

Yuki and Erika looked at him blankly. The huge sombrero on his head and bright poncho he was wearing said otherwise.

"Now go change." Takarada said, shooing them behind a couple of makeshift changing cabins.

When they re-emerged, clad in the bright pink LoveMe uniform, Takarada clapped gleefully.

"They look absolutely perfect! Good I had you come up to try them on for size." He grinned and got on his donkey in the corner of the spacious office. Takarada motioned for Sebastian, who was dressed the same as him, to open the door.

The president went first, with Yuki and Erika close behind.

Erika fidgeted self-consciously. How could this crazy president make her wear such a thing? She snuck a sideway glance at Yuki who appeared calm as if he was perfectly at ease with his situation. Only the red stains which were creeping up his neck suggested otherwise.

They passed a few people on the way to wherever it was that the president was leading them. They didn't seem to mind the uniform much but Yuki and Erika could feel their curious eyes on them as they passed.

The trio continued onwards in this fashion until they stopped in front of a door which had the same sign on it as the logo on their overalls.

The president got off his donkey and looked at the two with excitement.

"Welcome to the LoveMe Section." he announced grandly and pushed the door open.

There were two people inside the room already. Seated at a small table in the middle of the room, looked as if they had been in deep discussion before they were interrupted. The way they looked at the trio clearly conveyed their surprise.

Erika's eyes widened as she recognised Kanae.

_That's where I know this god awful uniform from!_

Kanae jumped up as she recognised them.

"You!" her and Erika screeched simultaneously, mirroring each other's movements as they both pointed an accusing finger at the other.

Yuki had recovered from his surprise at seeing Kanae again.

"You're part of this as well?" he asked her smoothly. She looked away from Erika and lowered her arm, turning her head to look at Yuki. She gave a curt nod.

The other girl had continued to sit at the table. She stood up and tentatively smiled at the newcomers. She was of average height, had a cute face and about shoulder length, black hair.

"So, I guess you have to improve your understanding of love before you become real actors?" she asked.

Kanae looked at her apologetically. She had obviously forgotten about the girl when she saw Erika at the door.

"Sorry, Amamiya-san. I forgot to introduce you." she apologised. She faced the other two.

"Yuki-kun, Erika-chan, this is Amamiya Chiori." Kanae said.

"Konnichiwa." she said, bowing slightly in greeting.

"I'm Sato Yuki, but Yuki-kun is fine." Yuki said, smiling slightly.

"Kouenji Erika." Erika introduced herself arrogantly. She was confident that the girl would recognise her name.

Chiori's eyes widened in surprise. She glanced at Kanae.

"Is that her?"

"Unfortunately." Kanae said sourly.

Erika could feel herself growing irritated. What did that hateful girl say about her?

The president had watched the whole exchange with interest.

"I take it, you've met each other before?"

"At the audition." Kanae answered. She looked at the president and pointed at Erika. "Why is _she _here?"

"For the same reason you're here, of course. Or Amamiya-kun or Sato-kun." He sighed dramatically and struck a pose. "To find love!"

Chiori and Kanae, who were used to the president's random outbursts, didn't react.

Erika jumped back in surprise and Yuki looked at Takarada suspiciously.

Momentarily forgetting where he was, his face expression turned icy and distant.

"Love is what got me into this mess."

The three girls looked at him confused, while Takarada heaved another sigh.

"That's exactly the kind of attitude LoveMe is supposed to help you with. Is Mogami-kun in yet?" he added hopefully, turning to face Kanae and Chiori.

"No. She called yesterday and said she might not be in until later." Kanae told him.

"Ah! That strange orange-haired girl?" Erika asked loudly, baiting her. Kanae narrowed her eyes in annoyance. She couldn't even say anything because she called her best friend like that occasionally as well.

"You shouldn't call her that." Chiori interrupted the staring contest between the girls. "Kyoko-san's actually really nice." They turned to look at her.

Chiori blushed a little.

"I know she seems a little strange at times but she's actually a really good person."

Takarada's eyes shone as he joined in the discussion about his favourite LoveMe member.

Yuki listened intently. The girl who had played the hateful, bitter, twisted Mio was a person like that? Incredulously, he heard how she was being described as sweet, innocent, modest to the point of extreme and hardworking.

"Is this Kyoko the actress you're talking about? The one who played Mio?" he asked.

Chiori nodded enthusiastically.

"Her Mio's fantastic isn't she?"

"I've only seen one episode but she seems very extreme." Yuki said bluntly.

Takarada grabbed his shoulders and shook him.

"You've only watched one episode of 'Dark Moon'? Why?" he said, his face showing disappointment.

Yuki didn't answer, but the way his face closed off all emotion and became distant was enough. Takarada let go.

"Really, I did make the right decision to put you in here." he clucked. He turned to Erika who had been listening to the discussion just as intently as Yuki.

How could that orange-haired weirdo become so popular and well known while someone as incredible as her didn't? The only thing people knew her for were some commercials but that girl was being talked about in dramas! It was infuriating!

It was in this state that Takarada asked her something to reaffirm his decision to make her a LoveMe member.

"And you, Kouenji-kun what is your attitude to love?"

"Love? Why would anyone need something as useless as that? It's fame and money that brings power and happiness!" she raged.

The other three present members of LoveMe looked at her a little strangely while Takarada sighed yet again. These kids were going to bring him an early death. But, oh, how he enjoyed testing them!

"Whoever told you that money brings you happiness?" Yuki said, honestly surprised.

"Who said it didn't?" Erika retorted.

"A lot of people actually." Chiori said helpfully. She traded a smirk with Kanae when Erika gave an irritated shriek.

Yuki's eyebrow twitched.

"Do you always have to be so loud?" he said sharply, clapping his hand over her mouth.

Erika was stunned. His hand felt hot on her lips and began to tingle.

She turned red and Yuki pulled away quickly before she tried to bite him. Dazed, Erika touched her hand to her mouth. Looking up she saw Kanae and Chiori smirking at her suspiciously. She rudely wiped her mouth and gave Yuki a glare.

"What was that for?"

"Well, it didn't look like you would shut up otherwise." Yuki said calmly.

Before Erika could start another argument, the president gave them each a key to one of the lockers in the room.

"You can shut your belongings in there and your uniform at the end of the day. I haven't installed a male changing room yet, so you can use the bathroom for that." he added, looking at Yuki. He nodded.

"Well, then." Takarada sighed as he realised that he had stretched out his visit as much as he could. Disappointed at having missed Kyoko he turned to leave.

"Go to Sawara-kun for your LoveMe tasks. The others will show you what else needs to be done." With that he left the two newest members of LoveMe behind.

"I'm going to find Sawara-san." Erika announced huffily and left.

"We have to put up with her from now on?" Chiori asked dejectedly. She turned to Kanae. "How did you not go insane from knowing her since your schooldays?"

"You've known her for that long?" Yuki asked. "No wonder you're so familiar with each other."

Kanae looked irritated.

"Mo! I didn't allow her to call me by name, it just happened! She tried to humiliate me and I didn't want to take it."

She shut her locker with a little more force than necessary and looked over at Yuki.

"You'd better watch out. She likes you, even though she's to dim-witted to notice."

"W-what?" Yuki turned white and began to shake a little. Chiori suppressed a giggle and nodded.

"It's pretty obvious even though I only saw her just now."

"B-but I only met her at the audition and haven't seen her since! How can she l-l-" Yuki broke off, not able to say it.

Kanae's mouth corners quirked a little. She gave him a rare look of sympathy.

"I'm sure you wouldn't be the only one scared of her."

She passed him and looked over at Chiori.

"I have work now, so I'm gonna leave. How about you?"

Chiori looked at her wristwatch and began to throw things from her locker into her carry-on bag.

"I'm leaving as well. I've got 'Box R' soon."

She joined Kanae at the door and looked at Yuki who had sat down in one of the vacated chairs.

"It was nice meeting you, Yuki-kun." she said and waved. He waved back automatically, not really hearing what she had said. Both her and Kanae left, leaning the door against the door frame as they left.

_How is that possible? How can Erika…?_

He shook his head resolutely.

_No. That thought is just too disturbing._

Yuki could hear voices from outside. A yelled "Moko-saaaan!" was dimmed by the distance, but he could clearly recognise Kanae's voice as she shouted.

"Mo! Will you cut it out? It's embarrassing!" Even though her tone was harsh, there was soft edge to it, audible to those who cared to listen.

Chiori laughed.

"Why don't you just admit it, Kotonami-san? You secretly enjoy this ritual of yours, otherwise you wouldn't put up with it." A vaguely familiar male laugh sounded at this comment.

"Quite true, Kotonami-san." the male agreed with Chiori.

Yuki stiffened. He had heard that voice before. It hadn't been as deep as back then but…

He strained to hear more.

Kanae growled something unintelligible.

The voice who had first shouted sounded a little sad.

"Do you really mean that, Moko-san?"

"Mo! Quit looking at me like that! You know I can't stand it!"

He heard the sounds of another scuffle.

"Uh, Kotonami-san? I think we might run late if we don't leave now." Chiori interjected.

"Oh no!" the first voice exclaimed. "You should go now!"

Yuki heard farewells being exchanged. He was disappointed at not having been able to confirm the identity of the man.

Then he noticed the sound of steps approaching instead of leaving the door. Yuki frowned and stood up. Had one of the girls forgotten something in here?

"You really don't have to wait for me, Tsuruga-san. I don't want to make you late for work." the first voice said.

_Tsuruga-san? Then that means…!_

"That's alright, Mogami-san. My work doesn't start until nine and it's only eight now. If you get your things now, we have enough time." the deep voice said pleasantly.

"If you insist…" the first voice sounded a little hesitant.

"I do." the male voice spoke a third time and Yuki could barely believe it.

It really was him!

Before he could do anything else however, the door swung wide open to reveal a tall man and a petite girl.

* * *

><p>The girl had orange-hair and eyes of an unusual amber colour. They were big and round, set in an elfin face with a stubbed nose and small, full lips. All in all, she was quite pretty.<p>

The man was tall and broadly built. He had a handsome, foreign-looking face with deep-brown eyes which was framed by dark brown hair. Even though he had changed his appearance, Yuki recognised him instantly.

Tsuruga Ren and Mogami Kyoko looked at the boy in the LoveMe room in surprise. They instantly recognised the garish pink uniform he was wearing.

Ren winced inwardly in sympathy. Wearing that uniform was bad enough when you were female but when you were male it seemed so much more criminal.

Before either of them could react in any way, the boy's iridescent blue eyes widened in recognition at Ren.

Mentally preparing himself for a fan attack, Ren prepared to smile.

"KU-!" he shouted, before clapping his hands on his mouth.

Ren's mind raced. That boy had sounded like he was going to say 'Kuon'. How did a boy he had never met before know his name?

Kyoko looked at the boy in surprise. She had known that LME had their annual audition last week but she hadn't guessed that LoveMe might get new members.

Ignoring the boy's strange outburst, she walked into the room and smiled at him.

"How do you do? I'm Mogami Kyoko." she bowed in greeting and straightened up, holding out her hand to him.

"Sato Yuki. Just Yuki-kun." he introduced himself after a moment's hesitation and took her hand.

He nervously glanced over at her sempai who was still standing in the door and looked back at Kyoko.

"I've seen a little bit of 'Dark Moon'. You're Mio, aren't you?"

Kyoko looked surprised and then smiled happily at having been recognised.

"That's right! Which episode did you see?"

"J-just the first one." Yuki admitted a little embarrassed. He quickly added, "It wasn't that it wasn't good, it was very interesting, I just couldn't watch more because of…personal problems."

Kyoko nodded in understanding.

"I wouldn't want to watch myself either. I didn't do very well." she said matter-of-factly.

"That's not true at all! I thought your Mio was fantastic! She seemed so…so real!" Yuki assured the girl. He really had thought so; he wasn't just trying to make Kyoko feel better.

"Oh no, no. You don't have to lie to make me feel better." She waved her hand dismissively. "Tsuruga-san's Katsuki was much better than any of my performances could ever be. That's why I'm striving to be as good as my sempai!"

Kyoko smiled at Tsuruga-san who returned it weakly.

He was still trying to identify the boy. He had said that his name was Sato Yuki, but somehow that didn't sound right to Ren.

Yuki was beginning to understand what the other LoveMe members had meant by 'extreme modesty'. Kyoko not only seemed modest; she seemed completely oblivious to how great her talent was. He also conceded that 'sweet' and 'innocent' seemed to describe her perfectly. He had instantly taking a liking to her as soon as she had greeted him.

Before Yuki could voice his protest to Kyoko's previous comment, she jumped and turned to Ren.

"I'm so sorry Tsuruga-san! You've been so kind as to drive me here and offer me a ride to work and I just lazily took up your precious time by talking to someone!"

Kyoko bowed continuously, about to throw herself into a dogeza, when Ren gently touched her shoulder.

"It's alright, Mogami-san. You were only being polite; besides if you get changed quickly we can still make it." he smiled a her warmly.

Kyoko felt her heartbeat speed up a little and quickly escaped from the casual touch by racing toward the bathroom.

"Two minutes!" she shouted before shutting and locking the door forcefully.

Yuki had watched the exchange in amazement. Was that what others meant by her strange little habits?

Ren dropped his pretense now that he was alone with the boy.

He stalked toward him, causing the shorter boy to retreat until his back bumped into one of the lockers attached to the wall. Before he could move, Ren grabbed the front of his shirt and pushed his face into his.

"Who are you and how do you know my name?"

Yuki felt his heart stop at this. Had he recognised him? Coming to the conclusion that he might as well reveal himself, Yuki dropped the act.

"Long time no see, cousin." Yukiko said quietly in her normal voice, so as not to be overheard by Kyoko.

Ren stiffened and let go of the shirt. Stepping back, he shook his head to clear it of confused feelings. After what seemed like a long time, Ren raised his head out of his hands.

"What are you doing here?" Ren asked, still in shock at seeing his only cousin for the first time in years. And on top of that, disguised as a boy.

"Why are you dressed like that? Did mum and dad send you?" Ren asked one question after another, becoming more impatient.

"I don't think I've got enough time to explain right now." Yukiko said, after Kuon had stopped bombarding her with questions. "I can tell you later, but I don't want anyone to overhear. Can you come by my place when you're done with work today?"

"You're not staying on your own are you?" Ren demanded, big-brother mode taking over. Yukiko ignored his question, quickly writing down her address on a notepad stuck into the belt of her uniform. She ripped the heart-shaped sheet off and gave it to Ren.

"Look, if you want to know, come here tonight."

Ren looked at the Kanji, not understanding anything it was saying.

Yukiko noticed his hesitation, rolled her eyes and took it back. She wrote her address down in hiragana and glanced at Kuon in irritation.

"How can you be such a great actor if you can't even read Kanji?" she asked exasperatedly and gave him the note once again.

Ren glared at his cousin.

"Acting is not just about the words. Besides, you always were the keener learner regarding Japanese things."

Yukiko grinned at that but before she could say anything, they both heard the sound of the bathroom door being unlocked.

"Don't tell anyone about me." she whispered hastily. "Behave like you only met me today whenever we see each other and remember to call me Sato Yuki."

Ren could barely nod before Kyoko burst out of the bathroom, now wearing the same uniform as Yukiko.

"I'm sorry it took so long, Tsuruga-san! Let's go!"

She grabbed her abandoned bag and quickly bowed to Yukiko.

"It was nice meeting you, Yuki-kun. I hope we get the chance to talk more next time."

Ren found it strange to hear his cousin being addressed like that. He glanced over at her and his eyes widened.

Yukiko was leaning against the lockers casually. Her right foot propped up behind her and crossed arms made her pose look very masculine. This was emphasised by the cool look on her face. Her mouth pulled into devilish, predatory looking smile.

"Sure." she said, her voice deeper than normal, completing the look. Ren realised that she was completely back to being Sato Yuki.

"Mogami-san, we should leave now." Ren said, trying to sound normal. He glanced back at Yuki again, smile unwavering.

"Of course!" she responded and bounded out the door before him. Ren turned back once again to look at Yuki.

Yuki's smile broadened and he raised his finger to his lips to signal secrecy.

Ren, still impressed by the sudden transformation, nodded and left.

* * *

><p>Kyoko sat in the backseat of Ren's sport scar and tried not to fidget nervously. She snuck a glance at her handsome sempai's profile and flushed. She quickly looked back down at the notebook in her hands to study her schedule.<p>

Ever since her sempai and her had concluded acting as the Heel Siblings she had been feeling a little strange around him. Kyoko seemed to be a lot more…aware of Tsuruga than before. Whenever he smiled at her she could feel her heart beating too fast and whenever they accidentally touched, like just now in the storeroom, she had to keep herself from blushing. What was wrong with her?

Her demons had begun to whisper viciously whenever Tsuruga around, intent on telling their master something but Kyoko never heard their whispered warnings. Again, she caught herself staring at him from the back and yanked her eyes back onto her planner.

This had happened a lot more frequently as well. Kyoko kept catching herself in the process of glancing at Tsuruga and studying his facial features. That straight nose! His strong jaw line! His beautiful eyes! And his lips….

Kyoko shook her hand violently, trying to keep herself from thinking about that.

She must be getting sick. She nodded in conviction. That was it. No other reason! She was not falling in lo…

Ren noticed Kyoko's surroundings in the backseat seemingly becoming darker. Concerned about her odd behaviour lately - she always seemed to avoid him as much as possible and whenever he did manage to talk to her she avoided looking directly into his face - he looked at her through the rear view mirror.

"Mogami-san? Are you alright?" Ren asked, concerned. He had really been looking forward to driving her as she always seemed to weasel out of his offers whenever possible.

Kyoko jerked her head upwards, her golden eyes wide in surprise.

"Y-yes, Tsuruga-san! Everything's fine!" she quickly assured him. She began chattering about her day so far and how the new LoveMe member she had met had seemed like a nice guy.

"Yuki-kun really was nice. He actually recognised me from one of my roles and really believed that it was me." She smiled at the thought and paused. "He looked a little lost though. I should show him around when I have the time."

At the mention of this Yashiro glanced over at friend and noticed that instead of looking jealous, he looked quite impassive. Yashiro was confused. Kyoko had not only referred to a boy she just met by first name, she had also offered to show him around. Of course, knowing her, Yashiro knew that she was just being Kyoko.

"Mogami-san." Ren interrupted her at some point. "Why is it that you call this boy by his first name but not me?"

Yashiro stifled a laugh at the question. It was like he had read his mind.

"W-what?" she exclaimed, obviously flustered. "B-but you are my _respected sempai _and dishonouring you by calling you by _name_, Tsuruga-san-!"

"Ren." he cut her off, glancing at her through the rear-view mirror.

"But, Tsu- R-ren-s-san!" she quickly interrupted herself as he gave her a dark look.

Kyoko nervously glanced out of her window.

"If you could drop me off here that would be fine. I have 'Box R' now and it's not that far away."

Ren was about to protest, seeing as she was already in the car and being driven by him, he might as well drive her directly to the location. He sighed, seeing Kyoko's determined expression. Pulling over, he put on his fake-gentleman smile. Yashiro flinched as he saw it and leaned as far away from him as possible. Ren noticed this but didn't care. It irked him to no end to have his time with Kyoko cut short.

"I wish you a good day of work, then." he said pleasantly, smiling at her.

Kyoko shrunk back in fear. Why was he mad at her now?

Intent on escaping that horrifying smile, Kyoko scrambled for the door handle. She quickly swung the door open and shut it. She began moving away from the car.

Ren saw that she had forgotten her planner in the backseat. Quickly reaching for it, he slid down his window and called her back. Kyoko turned back in surprise.

"Yes, sempai?" she asked respectfully when she came back to the car.

Ren tried not to look irritated at that title. Was she ever going to see him just as a man, not her respected sempai?

"You forgot your planner." he said calmly. Ren handed it to her, accidentally brushing her hand in the process. Kyoko blushed lightly as she took it from him.

Ren couldn't quite believe his eyes and, judging from the faint gasp beside him, Yashiro couldn't either.

Quickly composing himself, Ren decided to test her, just to make sure he wasn't hallucinating. He let go of the notebook, his hand lingering a little longer than necessary on hers. Kyoko's blush deepened and she withdrew her hand quickly.

Ren suppressed a triumphant grin.

"I wish you a good day." he said, smiling warmly. Kyoko turned crimson at this and quickly hid her face behind her hair, muttering something unintelligible.

Yashiro was sure it was something like "Damn you, Tsuruga-san, why me?", so he was sure Ren had heard it too.

Chuckling quietly, Ren nevertheless looked at her questioningly.

"Did you say something, Mogami-san?" he asked good-naturedly. Yashiro looked at him curiously. For some reason his smile still looked natural instead of the fake-gentleman smile from before.

Kyoko's head snapped back up and she smiled brightly. Yashiro shuddered, reminded of his client's fake smile.

"Just wishing you a good day as well, sempai." She straightened up, waved and left.

Ren backed up and resumed driving to his next appointment. He was still smiling and Yashiro remembered what brought that about.

"Did that really just happen?" he asked, amazed, his fan girl mode making him squeal.

Ren paused and looked over at his manager.

"I think so. I certainly hope so." he chuckled and continued driving.

Ren continued with that smile on his face all day, stunning co-workers even more than usual.

At the end of the day, Yashiro was exhausted from having to deal with triple the amount of fans. Back in the car, he glared at his still beaming client.

"It's not like I'm not happy for you," he began, "but could you tone it down a little? If you keep this up, you might cause a traffic accident to happen on our way back to LME."

Ren, not affected by this negative comment in the least, obliged.

Several of the cars beside him stopped swerving dangerously and managed to drive in straight lines again. Unknown to both of the passengers in Ren's car, Yashiro's self-fulfilling prophecy had just been prevented.

* * *

><p>Sho forcefully shut his apartment door behind him. He paced, deep in thought. He couldn't believe what just happened. He come up the elevator of the apartment building after his manager dropped him off. She had reminded him to get up early tomorrow because he had a meeting - via webcam - with Chase Darnell to discuss their debut.<p>

Still furious about the way he had been blown off from his previous visit, Sho had at first refused to meet with the American celebrity.

"What, so he can just wave me off but I have to respond to his every beck and call?" Sho had exclaimed. Shoko had only sighed impatiently.

"Look, you want to have an international debut right? This is your best chance."

Grudgingly, he had accepted her words and promised to be there. He had still been grumbling about the unfairness of it all, when the elevator door opened and he stepped out into the corridor. Walking towards his apartment, Sho had frozen on the spot when he saw his archrival standing in front of his apartment neighbour's door.

Ren had reacted the same as Sho, his raised hand frozen in the process of knocking on the door. He looked at the blond singer in surprise, which was quickly replaced by annoyance.

"What are you doing here, Fuwa?" he asked, trying to keep calm. He gave him his best fake-gentlemen smile.

Sho shrunk back and glared at him.

"I could ask you the same thing!" he snapped and pointed at Ren's face.

"That's none of your business." Ren deflected the indicated question.

Yuki chose this moment to stick his head out of the door as he had heard raised voices.

"Ah, K-Ren," he quickly changed the name as he saw who else was in the corridor. "You're here."

Ren turned to look at Yuki and raised his eyebrows.

"Why is _he _here?" he asked him, gesturing at Sho.

Sho's vein began pulsing.

"I _live _here! So I have every right to come and go as I please!" Sho pointed at the door left from Yuki's.

Ren and Yuki both looked at him in shock.

"You _live _here?" Ren exclaimed furiously.

"You're my _neighbour_?" Yuki shouted at the same time.

Ren couldn't believe it. His cousin who was like a little sister to him, was living in the same apartment block as his archrival, who had hurt his Kyoko so much. What's worse, they were neighbours!

Oblivious to the chaos exploding in his cousin's head, Yuki looked at Sho aghast.

"Great, now I'm going to run into you a lot more than I wanted to." he muttered, shooting Sho a dirty look.

Sho turned red in anger at this. What a disrespectful brat! Then something got through to him.

Looking between Ren and Yuki, he narrowed his eyes.

"How come Tsuruga is here? Do you know each other? You did call him 'Ren', didn't you?" he asked, confused.

Both froze in response.

_How should I cover this up? I never thought anyone would bust us!_

Yuki was thinking frantically, trying to come up with a believable excuse.

"Yuki-kun here just started at LME. He asked me for help with something and I came over since he said he was busy and I had time to spare for once." Ren lied smoothly.

He shot a glance at Yuki who understood.

Yuki gave his typical smile, playing along.

"Yeah, that's right. Sempai is really helpful."

Sho looked suspicious.

"But you called each other by first name." he pointed out.

"I ask all my kohais to call me by my first name." Ren said truthfully. No need for Fuwa to know that he only had one kohai who also refused to call him by first name.

Before Sho could ask anymore questions, Yuki nodded curtly and pulled Ren inside the apartment.

That had left Sho standing in the corridor on his own until he finally entered his own apartment.

* * *

><p>Notes - hah I finally wrote something about Kyoko! I hope you find that she doesn't act out of character, although I'm not really sure how she <em>would<em> react if/when(?) she realises her own feelings. As for Kanae, I realise that she reacted a little out of character. I'll try to keep her normal from now on.

Thanks for reading and please review!


	10. Surprises

Disclaimer: I do not own Skip Beat! or any of its characters

Side note: This isn't a fan fiction only about the actual characters. This fan fiction is mostly about and from the point of view of an OC although I will include known characters later in the story. Also, this is set after the Heel Siblings.

* * *

><p>Chapter 10 - Surprises<p>

Yuki thought about yesterday evening on his way to LME. Kuon had taken her explanation a lot calmer than he had thought he would. He had simply given him his address and home number as well as he mobile number which he used for private and business calls. He had urged Yuki to contact him in any circumstance if he got in trouble and, before leaving for his own apartment, suggested that he find somewhere else to live. Yuki had retorted that here was just fine, except for his annoying neighbour who he could handle if need be.

Kuon had left, looking dejected and muttering something like "That's what I'm worried about."

Yuki smiled as he accelerated the motorbike one last time before the LME buidling came into sight. Bending into the parking lot, he stilled the engine and got off. Tucking away the key in his jacket and the helmet underneath one arm, Yuki walked toward the entrance, not noticing the admiring looks he got from other newcomers in the parking lot.

He quickly went to the LoveMe locker room and grimaced at the uniform he had put in there the night before. Not bothering to lock the door seeing as no one was here yet, he changed. Dropping the Yuki act for a bit, Yukiko had just pulled up the bottom half of her overall when she heard the door handle being pushed down.

She frantically tried to cover up her exposed upper body. She was only wearing a bust band which disguised her chest and nothing else.

Still attempting to cover herself before the door opened, Yukiko had one arm through a sleeve before she ran out of time.

The door swung wide open to reveal a cheerful Kyoko.

"Moshi moshi! How are you to…oh!"

Kyoko's eyes widened and she blushed as she covered her face.

"I'm so sorry, Yuki-kun! I didn't see anything I swear!" she wailed, throwing herself into a dogeza.

Yukiko reacted instantly and sank down to pat Kyoko on the head.

"Don't worry, nothing happened right?" she assured the slightly older girl nervously.

Unfortunately, she had forgotten to get back into character, so her voice sounded normal.

"Yuki-kun, is there something wrong with your voice…?" Kyoko looked up and her eyes widened once again. She sat up and pointed at Yukiko's bust band.

"W-wha…" she managed dazedly, before Yukiko realised what she was pointing at.

"Oh, crap!" She jumped up and finished dressing quickly. She wanted to give the girl an excuse which was believable.

"Yuki-k- Yuki-_chan_, what…why…?" Kyoko gestured at her from the floor, before Yukiko could say anything. Yukiko sighed.

_Crap. I can't believe it, it's only my second day here and my secret is already known by two people._

"Listen, Kyoko-chan," she began, kneeling on the floor beside her. "please don't tell anyone about me. I have my reasons, but…oh, it's complicated."

Yukiko scratched her head in frustration. How was she going to explain it?

Kyoko smiled at Yukiko in understanding.

"Don't worry, Yuki-chan. Everyone has their secrets. You don't have to explain anything to me if you don't want to. I'll keep your secret."

Yukiko looked at the other girl at a loss what to say. Anyone would have asked for an explanation on the spot, but she readily accepted it, no questions asked.

"You really are a good friend." Yukiko smiled at Kyoko whose eyes unexpectedly filled with tears.

Yukiko was surprised but pleased when Kyoko gave her a hug.

"I'm so happy you said that we're friends!" she exclaimed and giggled. She stood up and went to her locker, retrieving her uniform. Yukiko got up and closed her locker.

"My real name is Yukiko by the way, but you can keep calling me Yuki. Just remember to use 'kun' whenever anyone's around." she added quickly.

Kyoko smiled at her again and nodded.

"Un! What do you have now, Yuki-chan?" Kyoko asked her as she changed into her uniform.

"Um, acting lessons." Yukiko replied looking the planner in her hand. She grimaced. She had actually wanted to do singing, but the president insisted that she act as well.

"You never know, you might change your mind and want to do acting instead of singing." he had told her, saluting her with a sword before galloping off on his horse. As a result, she had been forced to attend yesterday's acting lessons for the first time.

"Oh, that's great! I do too, so we're in the same group!" Kyoko exclaimed excitedly.

They stepped out the door, Yukiko closing her eyes in concentration before opening them again as Yuki. Kyoko closed the door behind them, not noticing the transition.

She turned back and her eyes widened. The resumed walking toward the acting room.

"You really do make a convincing boy." she mused. "Although your almost too pretty to be one."

Yukiko slipped through for an instant and blushed, denying it. Kyoko laughed.

By the time they got to the room, Yukiko was Yuki again and grinned as he saw Norio in there. Norio's eyes grew as big as hand plates at the sight of him and he guffawed.

Yuki's eyebrows twitched irritably when he noticed that his friend wasn't the only one.

"What?" he snapped. Norio smoothed his face expression but a giggle escaped him.

"_What _are you _wearing_?" came the answer before Norio dissolved back into laughter.

Yuki froze. He had completely forgotten that he was stuck wearing that embarrassing LoveMe uniform.

"It's the LoveMe uniform." Kyoko beside him supplied helpfully. She carried on cheerfully. "It's true that the uniform is a little extreme, but the section's really fun."

"L-love me? What's that?" Norio said, still laughing.

Now it was Kyoko's turn to look irritated.

"You got something to say, Norio-kun?" Kyoko said, a dangerous undertone in her voice. Yuki cautiously edged away from her. This aura felt suspiciously like the one from Mio, except it was a lot more intense live.

Norio looked up and jumped back, startled. He looked back at Yuki.

"Wha…who..?" he stammered, pointing at Kyoko.

Yuki smiled dangerously. Time to get back at his friend.

"This is Kyoko. You might know her from 'Dark Moon'?" Yuki said casually. He glanced down at her and realised that she was completely in character. He smiled as he recalled his talk with Kuon yesterday; among other things, he had kept talking about Kyoko, his kohai, and her amazing acting abilities.

"Or you might know her as Mio?"

Norio's jaw dropped in surprise as he looked at the petite, orange-haired girl.

"You're…Mio?" he faltered. He looked at her in awe. "Seriously?"

Kyoko smiled, back to her old self.

"Yes." she said simply and Norio bombarded her with questions.

The teacher cut off Norio mid-question as he came into classroom.

"Today, as you might have noticed, is Tuesday." Matsushima announced mysteriously. The aspiring actors who had been here longer groaned, including Kyoko. The new ones, like Yuki and Norio, looked at him, clueless.

Before Yuki could ask Kyoko what he meant, Matsushima continued.

"That means it's the day to choose two people for this week's acting challenge."

His eyes glinted dangerously as he said this, his eyes roaming across his victims, er, students.

"To the newcomer's - the weekly acting challenge is when two students are chosen randomly out of the entire class. These students will then receive a note from me which will specify a theme or character which you have to act like for the entire next day. Of course, whoever wants to pass is welcome to do so, but," Matsushima lifted his finger and grinned evilly, "as punishment, the one who passed must take the acting challenge the following two weeks and act out whatever is thrown at them. Passing the challenge then is not allowed. Is that clear?"

Everyone nodded mutely.

"Now let's get on with the lesson. We will determine the lucky students at the end."

They learnt various acting exercises, among them proper breathing techniques and pronunciation. Yuki realised that many exercises overlapped with his singing lessons and grinned. This might help him more than he thought it would.

At the end of the lesson Matsushima, picked up a box that had been standing on his desk.

"The names of chosen students are taken out of the box so there's no chance of them being chosen again next week. Once all students went once, it's refilled again. Also, first time challengers are not allowed to pass." he explained before pulling two names out of the box. Everyone held their breath, hoping it wasn't them.

"Sasaki Norio and Sato Yuki." he announced, and the two in question flinched as they heard their names called out.

"It can't be that bad, right?" Norio tried to reassure Yuki and himself as they walked up to the grinning Matsushima.

"You have no idea." their teacher grinned gleefully. "The president invented this challenge and also chooses the themes."

_Now _Yuki and Norio were worried.

"Well, then, pick whatever you like." Matsushima held out a huge, black bag out to them.

Yuki gestured for Norio to go first who breathed in deeply before pulling out a small piece of paper. He began to unfold it when their teacher stopped him.

"Wait until Yuki got his and then read it out loud to the class."

Norio gulped nervously but didn't protest.

Dreading what he got, Yuki closed his eyes as he put his hand in the bag. Holding on to the first piece of paper her could grab, he pulled his hand out quickly.

Both boys turned around to the class who were facing them, excited.

Norio unfolded his note first and grinned in relief at what he read.

" ' Your Best Friend'." he announced happily. The class gave a collective sigh of relief although a few disappointed exclamations were thrown in at the prospect of such a boring challenge.

Yuki felt a little tension leave him. Norio's hadn't been too bad. His couldn't be much different, right?

Wrong. It was worse.

_Much _worse.

Yuki couldn't believe his eyes as he read through the note. He thought that maybe talking to the president could convince him otherwise. But the longer he thought about it, the less likely it seemed that the president would relent. This kind of challenge suited his tastes completely. Yuki traded a nervous glance with Kyoko who looked at him worriedly.

Taking a deep breath, he looked up the class who were waiting for his challenge.

" 'Switch Your Gender.' "

* * *

><p>Sho looked around the LME lobby irritably, berating himself. Why had he come here again?<p>

This morning he had the webcam meeting with Chase Darnell. They had agreed on a date for their debut album release and how many songs they would need. They would each contribute five songs plus two which they would perform individually.

During a break in their meeting, Sho had unconsciously begun to play his guitar, playing the song that Sato Yuki had finished, lyrics and all. This had caught Darnell's attention and he had insisted to put that song on their album list before ending the meeting.

Unfortunately, because Sho hadn't composed and written it all by himself, he needed the co-writer - Sato Yuki - to give him permission for release. As he had explained this dilemma to Shoko, she had listened to him thoughtfully.

"Maybe you could convince him to work with you." she had suggested.

In response to Sho's glare she had given him an icy look.

"Look, you admitted yourself that you recently had problems with song writing. A little help might not be a bad idea. Besides, didn't you say you needed a new guitarist?"

Because these were all valid arguments, Sho had decided to come by LME where had found out that Yuki worked.

So now here he was, standing in the main lobby and looking like an idiot because he didn't know where to go. He stalked up to the receptionist's desk and smiled brilliantly at the middle-aged woman sitting behind it.

"Would you be able to tell me where to Sato Yuki?" he asked in a friendly tone.

The woman swooned, along with several other women of various ages present in the lobby.

"O-of course. Just give me a moment." She shyly smiled at Sho who could just suppress a shiver of disgust.

The woman quickly typed something into the computer and looked up at him.

"He has just finished acting classes and is on a break, so he should be in the LoveMe room." she readily gave him the information.

Barely giving the woman a mumbled thanks, Sho turned around and left in the direction the woman had pointed him to.

"LoveMe? What the hell is that? It sounds kind of familiar…" he murmured. Looking up he noticed that he was about to pass a nondescript-looking door with a neon pink sign on it which read 'LoveMe'.

Not bothering to knock, he pushed the door open.

Three people were in the room and Sho knew all of them.

One was Kyoko who was looking at him, her eyes wide open in shock and then fury as she realised who it was. Another was Sato Yuki who was mirroring Kyoko's expression, except that he was more annoyed than livid. The last one was Tsuruga Ren who had gone completely stiff when he saw Sho in the door.

Both Kyoko and Yuki jumped up.

"What are _you _doing here?" they both shouted. They looked at each other in confusion.

"You know him?" they both said at the same time. "How?"

They stared at each other for a few seconds before dissolving into laughter.

Ren's mouth twitched as he fought against doing the same.

"What the hell is so funny?" Sho said irritated.

Immediately, Kyoko and Yuki stopped laughing. Kyoko was in front of Sho in the blink of an eye.

"What do you want, Shotaro?" she snapped at him, her face shoved into his.

He flinched and grinned as he looked over at Tsuruga who could hardly keep still at the close proximity of his archrival and the girl.

Sho quickly snaked his arm around Kyoko's waist and pulled her closer to him. Enraged, she squirmed, beating her small fists against his chest to no avail.

"You." he said simply, forgetting himself.

Kyoko breathed in sharply at this and glared up at him.

"Let me go!" she demanded. Sho grinned and brought up his hand to caress her face. He bent forward to kiss her. Kyoko was completely paralysed by his actions.

Ren rushed forward, intent on breaking her out of the forceful embrace. Then he pulled back in surprise.

Yuki had already beaten him to the punch. Literally.

Kyoko was now behind Yuki, a little dazed from what just happened.

Yuki stood above Sho who was now lying on the ground, holding his aching jaw and glaring up at him.

"Get out." Yuki said calmly, his eyes two slivers of ice.

Sho stood up, propped up against the wall. He drew himself up to his full height and noted with satisfaction that he was still at least half a head taller than the other boy.

"Why? Is it so wrong to come by and say hi to a childhood friend?" he smirked.

" 'Childhood friend'?" Yuki repeated. He looked over at Kyoko who was being restrained by Ren.

" "Childhood friend'? When did I ever say that we're not enemies anymore? True, I knew you when we were kids but that's all!" she spat at him, her eyes livid.

"You forfeited the right to call her a friend when she swore revenge against you." Ren's furious whisper carried across the room. His eyes were focused on Sho, completely forgetting about Yuki.

"Do you still want revenge?" Sho asked Kyoko who only glared in answer.

Sho chuckled.

"I guess that means she still thinks about me more than anyone else."

He directed the words at Tsuruga who flinched, but maintained eye contact with Fuwa.

In that moment, Kyoko felt his arms weaken around her and she broke his hold.

She raced toward Sho, spitting in fury. While running, Kyoko's foot got caught in a chair and she fell, her eyes widening in shock.

Yuki was the first to react out of the other three and caught her, princess-style. He gently put her on her feet.

"You okay?" he asked concernedly, putting a hand on her shoulder. She shook it off and nodded briskly. Ren quickly came over to check on her himself.

Sho, who had noticed Kyoko's reaction, smirked at Yuki who narrowed his eyes at him.

"You know, she'll never fall for you. She isn't interested in short and slender guys like you. Especially not ones who wear pink clothes."

Ignoring the jibe on the LoveMe uniform, Yuki's eyes widened and he quickly traded a surprised glance with Ren and Kyoko who looked equally stunned. Quickly noting that Ren was built taller and broader than either of them, Yuki turned back to Sho, struggling to contain his laughter.

"I guess that cuts us both out from that competition." Yuki laughed.

Sho flushed in anger.

"Don't you know who I am? How dare you laugh at me like that?" he shouted.

"Of course I know who you are. Your name's Fuwa Sho and you're my neighbour right?" Yuki looked at Sho for confirmation.

He seethed. Didn't this guy ever watch TV or listen to the radio?

"I'm Fuwa Sho, the number one singer in Japan!" he spat. He couldn't believe that he actually had to point this out to that brat.

Yuki looked a little surprised. He looked at Kyoko and Ren questioningly who grudgingly nodded.

"Are you now? You'd think that someone as famous like you would be known all over the globe by now."

Sho flinched and Yuki grinned, knowing he had hit a sore spot.

"That's sort of why I'm here." Sho pressed out from between clenched teeth.

"Huh?" Yuki looked completely clueless. "What do you mean?"

"You remember that time when you finished one of my songs?" Sho asked, calm and professional now that this was about work. Still, inside he was raging that he had to ask this guy for permission to use one of his own songs.

"Um, sure…?" Yuki trailed off, making it sound like a question.

Kyoko and Ren were behind them making clueless faces. What were they talking about?

"Well, my debut partner heard it and insists on using it. The problem is that…" Sho took a deep breath. This hurt his pride but it was necessary for him to do if he wanted to be known internationally. "I need your permission to use it. And I need you to help with some other songs as well as a new guitarist."

Ren and Kyoko had no idea what they were talking about but even they understood this. The ever prideful, arrogant, childish Fuwa Sho was not only asking permission for something, he was asking for help! From a newcomer, nonetheless.

They felt their eyes grow wide and jaws slacken. They glanced over at Yuki.

Yuki was even more surprised than the other two. He hadn't known them as long they had but in the short time that Yuki had known Sho, they were only unpleasant encounters. Including the time he didn't know about.

"And why would I help you? You hurt my friend and were rude to me from the very first time we met." Yuki's eyes were once again slivers of ice and his voice was hitting Antarctic temperatures. All three people looked at him a little fearfully, wondering if they would get frostbite.

"What's in it for me?"

Sho smiled thinly. He knew it. Everyone still thought about what was best for themselves before anyone else. This kid was no different.

"You're going to debut internationally with me and my debut partner. You'll be known over the whole globe and if the debut sells well, you'll be rich in no time."

If Sho had been looking for an extreme positive reaction, he was disappointed. In fact, Yuki seemed to be even colder than before.

Yuki was disgusted by this guy. He didn't care about money; he'd had enough of all the issues it brought with it for a lifetime. Neither about fame; yes he had entered show business with the intent to become a successful musician but at the same time try to stay unknown enough so as not to be found out.

"By the way, my debut partner is Chase Darnell. Ever heard of him?" Sho added, hoping for Yuki to take the bait.

The second Yuki had heard that name, he was knocked out of place by Yukiko. Frozen stiff, she couldn't move. Her mind, though, was racing.

_Chase…? He's debuting with this guy?_

Her instant reaction was rejection.

_Now way in hell am I going to help that guy become famous even more than he is!_

Then she thought about it seriously.

_What would happen if I did agree?_

_I could make him miserable the whole time he's working on the debut….I could drive absolutely insane!_

_I could even ruin it for him…but that would also ruin Fuwa…not that I really care since he's a jackass._

Ren looked at his cousin in concern. After hearing her tale last night he had been appalled, shocked and furious. How dare that bastard lay a hand on his cousin! Yukiko had been able to distract him by begging him not to do anything, tears in her eyes. Ren had been shocked. When they were children, she had been a real tomboy and never cried in front of anyone, least of all him.

And now the other bastard mentioned him in passing by. Ren could feel his anger stirring again as he saw Yukiko seemingly experiencing a breakdown.

Kyoko looked back between her new friend, her enemy and her sempai. Her demons were revelling in the dark tension that was threatening to engulf the room.

_Ah, blessed revenge!_

_Ooh, I missed this!_

_This atmosphere…it's so dark….so hateful….so…so wonderful!_

She questioningly looked at Yuki. Why did he react so strongly to the foreign singer's name?

Sho was still waiting for an answer, his foot impatiently tapping on the floor. The only thing he noticed was a slight sense of animosity emanating from Yuki.

"So? What's your answer?"

Yuki then did something that surprised everyone in the room. He gave his trademark smile and held out his hand to Sho. He looked at the hand in surprise, then into Yuki's face.

This guy was willing to forget about his behaviour and even work with him?

Something akin to a grudgingly respectful smile stole its way on Sho's face.

He grabbed Yuki's hand, sealing their deal in a handshake.

What Sho thought about Yuki's attitude couldn't have been farther from the truth.

* * *

><p>Yuki stood in front of the mirror, grimacing.<p>

He had gone to the president's office early the next morning to try and convince him to change his acting challenge. It could very well expose Yuki's secret much sooner than planned.

As predicted, the president hadn't given in, finding it very amusing that it was Yuki who had gotten this particular challenge.

"I got the idea from when Mogami-kun told me about the acting challenge Kuu set her." he explained. He probably would have gone on about it if Yuki hadn't assured him that he knew about it already. So instead of changing the challenge, he had given Yuki clothes for it, mostly frilly dresses and skirts. Yuki had explained that he wouldn't able to ride his motorbike that way. Takarada had looked thoughtful, before running off and a little later returned with another set of clothes.

"These would perfectly match a female Yuki, in other words it should be perfect for you." he grinned and gestured for him to go change in LME's walk-in closet.

So now Yuki stood in front of a mirror tugging at the clingy shirt. Dropping Yuki, Yukiko stepped out from the closet. She fumed as she kept tugging at the black strapless tube top with lacy straps sticking out which were attached to a bra underneath. The shirt was so tight, she would either have to wear a padded bra added to her bust band or wear a real bra. Seeing which one was more comfortable and easier to move around in, she chose the latter. She frowned as something occurred to her. How did the president know her bra size? She hadn't even known that it had changed since the last time she wore one from a 10C to a 10D.

She glared at him as she stopped in front of him.

"Who picked this outfit?"

"Ten. She said something about how I wouldn't know what a girl would like to wear. She said I had no taste in clothing. Can you believe that?" The president sounded offended, but Yukiko wasn't listening. She sighed in relief.

_Thank goodness it was Jelly._

She looked down at herself. She had to admit the clothes were tasteful, they were just very…revealing. Yukiko looked back up to the president who was still trying to convince no one in particular that his sense of style had nothing wrong with it.

"Takarada-san, how am I supposed to keep my gender a secret like this?"

Takarada interrupted himself and grinned.

"Now, that's the real acting challenge isn't it?"

Yukiko gave him another glare before going back to the walk-in closet. She snatched up her leatherjacket to cover her naked shoulders. Making sure that the wig sat right, she looked into the mirror sighed. She had even put on some makeup the way Jelly had taught her when she saw her yesterday for advice for the challenge.

Yukiko stepped back and looked at herself critically. The blue contacts were the only hints to who she was. She quickly left before she could change her mind.

Down in the lobby, she paused as she saw someone familiar and at the same time not leaning against a wall. They had agreed to meet each other there before facing the rest of the acting class together.

Norio was leaning against the wall in a familiar looking pose. His legs and arms were crossed and he wore grey faded jeans, a white t-shirt and a black leather motorbike jacket. Even his hair and face expression were different, calmer than usual but aloof. His body language expressed the same.

Yukiko's mouth quirked as she recognised who he had identified as his act, his 'best friend'.

She walked across the lobby as she normally would when she wasn't in disguise. As Yuki was the same person as her personality-wise, she wouldn't have to change much about herself. Just the occasional guyish gesture would do.

"Hey, Norio." she called in her normal voice.

Norio recognised the voice immediately, even though it sounded more girlish than usual. He turned towards the source of the voice. Norio almost choked in surprise at what he saw.

Yuki had transformed completely. Gone was the cool, laid-back if somewhat girlish looking guy. This was completely reversed.

Yuki walked toward him like he had at the modelling audition with a stunning natural grace. In addition to that, he was wearing skin-tight black leather pants which would have looked awful on any guy but somehow Yuki pulled it off. These were tucked into knee-high, platform combat boots, which made him taller but still not as tall as Norio. He was wearing a tight black tube top which showed a thin strip of skin between the hem and where the low rise pants begun. Over that, he wore his customary leatherjacket.

Yuki even wore a long black wig with waves in it.

But the most dramatic was his makeup - he wore a black-silver smoky eye and even a little bit of pink gloss.

Norio looked him up and down in disbelief several times. He just couldn't believe it.

Yuki looked more like a girl than ever. Not only that - he looked _hot_.

Norio reared back as that thought crossed his mind. How could even _think _that? Yuki was definitely a guy; his best friend. And Norio was sure that he was straight. That was just plain disturbing.

Yukiko smirked as she noticed Norio's reaction. She had known that this was quite dramatic but she didn't think she'd have that much of an impact.

She pursed her lips, tapping her finger to her chin. Norio looked at her, mesmerised.

"Let me guess - judging by your clothes and the attitude…your best friend is me?"

Norio, pulled back into reality, assumed an aloof and calm expression with just a hint of a smile.

"Yup." he said, giving Yukiko a perfect replica of Yuki's trademark smile.

Yukiko flashed it back at him, but since it was Yukiko today, not Yuki, she mixed in a hint of a dare in it, making her look not only beautiful but also dangerous.

Norio was just able to swallow the sudden lump in his throat before his nervousness showed on his face.

"Let's go to class, then. Don't want to keep Matsushima waiting." she scowled and Norio almost laughed at the familiar face. He quickly copied it and nodded before following Yuki to their class.

Upon arriving at the room, Norio went in first. Yuki had insisted; he said he was suddenly feeling nervous and would come in later.

Norio entered the class, surrounding eyes intently focused on him. They all broke out into shouts and yells as they figured out who it was that Norio was acting like.

Matsushima came up to him and grinned while clapping him on the shoulder.

"Good job. Now you have to stay like that all day unless you are required to act for another job. Got it?"

Norio nodded and returned the grin. He jerked his head towards the door where Kyoko had stopped and was talking to someone hidden from view.

"Wait 'til you see Yuki. He's really got the part down."

* * *

><p>Yukiko was standing leaned against the door and was beginning to panic. What if they realised her real gender? What would happen then? Would she be kicked out of LME?<p>

Before she could hyperventilate, Kyoko suddenly stuck her face in front of her. She looked at her with concerned eyes.

"Are you alright, Yuki-chan?" she whispered, after making sure no one was in ear shot. She looked her up and down and smiled. "You look very pretty. I'm sure everyone will think that you're very dedicated, not figure out your secret."

Yukiko looked at her in amazement. How did she always know what to say at the right time? She smiled at Kyoko warmly.

"Thank you, Kyoko-chan." She took a deep breath and looked at her determinedly. "I think I can do this now."

Gesturing for Kyoko to go in first, she straightened up and set her face into the composed mask she had learnt to use. Smiling brilliantly, she floated into the room gracefully.

Everyone in the room stilled and Norio hid a grin as he saw everyone's reactions.

The guys' eyes popped out of their heads from gaping and their jaws dropped. The girls however, were seething with jealousy. How could someone, a guy nevertheless, look so pretty?

Even Matsushima, who was a seasoned professional, could barely keep his jaw from dropping. The only times had ever witnessed such a change had been with Tsuruga Ren or Kyoko. Now he had found another person to add to his list.

Kanae, who was also present this time, couldn't believe her eyes. She looked at Kyoko suspiciously, who had traded a conspirational look with Yuki and was now off in La-La land. What did they know about each other that they could already have insider jokes and secrets?

Kanae's eyes widened. She quickly glanced back to the transformed Yuki. He and Kyoko didn't like each other in that way did they?

Her eyes narrowed at the new implications this could have on the relationships between her, Kyoko and Ren.

* * *

><p>I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Thanks for reading and please review!<p> 


	11. Jumping to Confusions

Disclaimer: I do not own Skip Beat! or any of its characters

Side note: This isn't a fan fiction only about the actual characters. This fan fiction is mostly about and from the point of view of an OC although I will include known characters later in the story. Also, this is set after the Heel Siblings.

* * *

><p>Chapter 11 - Confusion<p>

Kanae looked over suspiciously at Yuki-turned-girl. He/she was bent over a pile of paper, completing a LoveMe task. The president had made an exception for Yuki not to have to wear the uniform today as he was doing the acting challenge.

Yukiko tried hard to ignore the hard stares she was getting from her LoveMe co-worker. She was trying to finish this task as quickly as she could without making mistakes. She had an appointment later which she didn't want to be late for.

Yukiko finished writing with a flourish of her pen and set it down. Leaning backwards and stretching her arms over her head, she looked over at Kanae who was still staring at her.

"Do you have the time, Kanae-chan?" she asked casually, intentionally switching back to Yuki's voice..

Kanae's eyes became two sapphire blue slits.

"It's Kotonami." she corrected, a hint of hostility in her voice. Yukiko flinched.

Yukiko had become friends with Kyoko very quickly and she hadn't minded being called Kyoko-chan; the only other person she had talked to regularly had been Norio who insisted on using his first name. She had completely forgotten that it was a sign of bad manners and lack of respect if a person was called by their first name without having been granted permission first.

"Sorry, Kotonami-san." she smiled apologetically. "Do you have the time?"

"It's 5:45." she told her grudgingly and looked up in surprise as Yukiko jumped up.

"Why are you in such a hurry?"

"I have something planned for 6 tonight and I'm running late." she rushed out before running for the locker room. A second later, she came back with a bag over shoulder. Snatching up the paperwork, she smiled at Kanae.

"Have a good evening, Kotonami-san." She waved and left.

Kotonami was stiff.

_What a weird guy. I'm sure he noticed my lack of politeness and yet he didn't do anything._

Just then Erika stuck her head back in the room. She had heard Yuki's voice here and had come to see him. Only discovering Kanae in the room, she smiled at her arrogantly.

"What are you doing here on your own and looking shocked, Kanae? Did Yuki just blow you off?"

Kanae narrowed her eyes at her in annoyance.

"What, were you eavesdropping? How do you even know that he was here? You were assigned somewhere else, weren't you?" she said in a bored tone.

Erika turned pink from embarrassment and Kanae came up with an idea.

_It's so simple! Why didn't I see it before?_

Smiling, she got up and walked toward Erika, who looked at her suspiciously.

"You know what, Erika-chan? He did blow me off. He said that there's someone else he likes." Kanae's eyes filled with tears.

Erika looked at her in bewilderment. What was going on?

Kanae sniffled as the fake tears ran down her cheeks.

"I r-really wish you b-both ha-happiness." she blubbered before running past the surprised Erika into the empty locker room. Once there, she wiped off the tears and hastily checked her reflection to make sure all traces of the crying were gone.

Kanae smiled. If this plan went well there was no chance of Yuki breaking up the already fragile relationship between Kanae, Kyoko and Ren. She had barely resigned herself to the fact that her best friend liked the older man, even if she didn't acknowledge it. If there was another guy who got involved with her that would make things even more complicated.

Back at the other room, Erika stood completely stunned. What the heck did that stupid girl mean?

* * *

><p>Sho looked at his wristwatch in irritation. Where was that guy? He was supposed to meet him at the agreed time. And now he was late.<p>

"Sho…will you please stop that? It's becoming a little annoying." Shoko pointedly looked at Sho's fingers which were tapping the table impatiently.

Sho ignored her and started tapping with his other hand as well. Shoko's eyebrows twitched.

"For goodness' sake calm down! The boy is only late by a couple of minutes." Seeing that her words had no effect on her charge, she added, "If you can't calm down, walk it off."

He usually didn't like taking people's orders but Sho was feeling so annoyed that he got up and walked out into the corridor. Shoko sighed in relief as he left and continued making notes in peace.

Sho ended up going down to the lobby for more pacing space. He had just stepped out of the elevator when he heard noise from the entrance of his agency. He wasn't the only one who took notice; all of the other people present in the lobby were staring at the spectacle. Sho walked up to the nearest person and asked what was going on.

"I think it's another one of your fans. Seems to be more persistent than the rest, though."

"Let go of me! I'm telling you, I have an appointment!"

A girl with long, black wavy hair struggled to get out of the grip of a security guard who was trying to escort her out of Akatoki Agency. She was actually not that bad-looking. Sho almost didn't mind this fan girl. Almost.

"Yeah, yeah." The security guard rolled his eyes. "How often do you think fan girls use that excuse? You even dressed up in the same style as Fuwa Sho. You're obviously a fanatic."

"I'm not a crazy fan!" the girl screeched. Her eyes looked around wildly until she found Sho.

"You! Help me, will you?" she pointed a finger at him.

Sho took a step back, startled. He looked at her arrogantly.

"Why? I don't even know you. If you want an autograph, come to a convention like anyone who's sane."

The girl went crimson with rage.

"Fuwa, you asshole! You're the one who came to my agency, forced yourself on my friend and then coerced me into coming here today! And now you just ignore me?"

Sho's eyes popped out. This couldn't possibly be…?

He marched up to the girl and stared into her face. Her blue eyes were livid and ice cold at the same time. The face shape and features were also the same, confirming Sho's suspicion.

He nodded sharply at the guard who shrugged and let her go.

"Sorry, miss. It looked like you were just another fan, I was just doing my job."

The girl nodded curtly and turned her head to look at the still stunned Sho.

"Where to?" she snapped.

That brought Sho back to reality again and he glared at her.

"What the hell? I just helped you, can't you just say 'thank you'?"

"Thank you." she said smoothly. "Now, where do we go?"

Sho turned abruptly in anger and stalked toward the elevators. They stepped into the thankfully empty room and Sho exploded once the doors closed.

"What the hell is going on? First, you're late and then you turn up dressed like a girl! What's _wrong _with you?"

Sho's eyes widened in a sudden epiphany.

"You're not a transvestite, are you? Or gay?" Sho said, horror-stricken. If he had picked someone like that to work with he would look for someone else, even if his work wasn't as good as Yuki's.

Yukiko had been seething since the guard tried to throw her outside. Now that she was locked into the tiny elevator with that Fuwa bastard, she snapped.

"It was an acting challenge! The president of LME invented them and I got unlucky and picked the 'Switch You Gender' challenge! Do you think I _like _walking around looking like a girl? I haven't had any time to change!" she ranted, slipping into Yuki mode.

Deciding to tease Fuwa a bit to get back at him, he became Yukiko again and looked up at Sho with the trademark smile.

"Why? Would it bother you if I were a transvestite or gay?"

She leaned forward a bit to see his reaction better.

Sho was stunned speechless. If this was any other guy, he would long ago punched the living daylights out of them. But since Yuki looked so much like a girl already and his clothes and attitude only enhanced that, Sho was having a hard time to think clearly.

Yuki's clothes were very clingy, making it a very revealing outfit. The worst thing was that it actually looked good on him.

His eyes were looking up at Sho through those disgustingly long eyelashes and his hands were put on his waist, waiting for an answer. He was standing entirely too close for comfort, especially for a guy.

"Back off, will you?" he almost screeched pushing him away from himself. He accidentally touched the chest area and they both froze. Sho backed away from him.

"W-what the heck is going on?" he stammered pointing at Yuki's chest.

Yukiko was trying to suppress her embarrassment and annoyance.

"They gave me a padded bra to wear to help me look the part." she said, using Yuki's voice and movements. Not that Fuwa needed to know that she was wearing a normal one. Fighting to keep her face a normal shade and not bright red she shrugged on the leatherjacket hanging over her shoulder and grinned at Sho.

"Like it?" she said, twirling around to tease him a little more. Yukiko was pleased to see that Sho's face was turning red, from embarrassment or anger she couldn't tell.

"Just get changed already!" Sho shoved her out of the elevator and pointed towards the bathroom before practically disappearing in a room at the end of the corridor.

Laughing to herself, she went to the bathroom to get changed.

* * *

><p>Sho sank to the floor, his hands covering his face. He was confused, embarrassed and disgusted with himself.<p>

_What the hell happened to me?_

When Yuki had looked at him like that and twirled around, he had actually thought that Yuki-as-a-girl was not only pretty but _hot_. Shocked and appalled that that thought had crossed his mind, he had shoved Yuki out of the elevator before running away. Unfortunately not fast enough to not see the way Yuki walked.

His hips had swayed alluringly, his slender legs had looked impossibly long…

Sho shot up into a vertical position and ran past his manager to the bubbler standing in the corner. He quickly gulped a cup full of ice cold water and then another to get away from those disgusting thoughts.

What was _wrong _with him? He wasn't gay.

_Right?_

Not believing that he asked himself that question, he looked at the door in irritation. What was taking that guy so long?

Shoko looked at her charge in concern. He wasn't usually that hectic. Had something happened in the time that he had been outside?

About to ask she was interrupted by the opening door. She turned her head and looked at the boy making his way towards the table where she was seated.

"I'm Sato Yuki. Nice to meet you." he said with a slight smile before giving a greeting bow.

Shoko stood up and shook his hand warmly.

"I'm Shoko Aki, Sho's manager." she introduced herself. She looked over to Sho who had a scowl on his face.

"Finally. I was wondering if you got lost or something."

"What, did you miss me?" Yuki smirked at him.

There was a slight pause in which Sho's scowl deepened.

"Did something happen?" Shoko asked, clearly confused. She looked from one boy to another.

"No, nothing." Sho answered while Yuki continued smirking. Sho noticed this and his vein was beginning to pulse.

"Let's just get this over and done with!" he snapped, stomping into the neighbouring room where he had left his music equipment.

Shoko rolled her eyes and shrugged at Yuki apologetically.

"I'm sorry. His fans don't know this side of him, but he's usually like this. If you're a fan I hope you're not disappointed."

"No, don't worry Shoko-san. I only see this as a good opportunity to be successful. I have no expectations personality wise." Yuki assured her.

Smiling in relief she led him to the room Sho had disappeared into.

Sho started on the songs he had finished composing where he had problems with the proper lyrics. He let Yuki play through them first so he could get an idea about the mood of the song. This led to a debate about replacing certain parts of the melodies with other notes.

Soon, Yuki and Sho were having a heated discussion about this. Shoko realised that it would turn into a bad argument quite soon.

"How about a break?" she suggested, after a look at the time. They had already been at it for over an hour.

They both looked at her in surprise.

"We can't. We're just working out the basics." Yuki explained.

Sho would have told her the same thing but not as nicely. He grudgingly nodded, not wanting to agree with anything this guy said.

"Oh." was all Shoko could think of.

They turned back towards another song and soon they were bickering away again. Shoko sighed and went to get herself some water.

About to enter the room again, water in hand, Shoko was just able to avoid a flying guitar chip which clattered to the floor. She heard Yuki's and Sho's voices steadily growing louder.

"You can't just come in here and change everything about my songs!"

"If you want a successful debut you've got to make music people want to hear! You've done it before, right? So why do these songs all sound off?" Yuki's annoyed voice sounded.

Another object flew Shoko's way, this time a small writing booklet. Shaking her head at the two boys' childish behaviour, she bent down to retrieve the writing booklet and the guitar chip. She laid them on the table and sat down, taking a long drink of water.

Sighing again, Shoko set the cup on the table and got Sho's schedule out of her bag. She scanned it, seeing that this was the last thing to do today. Knowing that Sho would and had pulled all-nighters to finish composing songs, she set the schedule aside and pulled a novel she was currently reading out of her bag.

Shoko thumbed through the novel until she found the page she was looking for. Pushing her reading glasses up on her nose, she ignored a paper ball flying past her.

"This is going to be a long night."

* * *

><p>Hikaru had just finished talking to the producers of 'Kimagure Rock' when Kyoko burst through the door. She rushed towards him, anxiety written all over her face.<p>

"I'm so sorry, Ishibashi-san! Please forgive me!"

She started doing dogezas but Hikaru stopped her.

"Forgive you for what?" he asked, confused.

"I'm late Ishibashi-san. Late!" she wailed and threw her hands up.

Hikaru took a look at the time on his mobile.

"It looks like you still made it in time to me. The show doesn't start until in five minutes time." he assured her.

Relief was clearly visible on Kyoko's face. She let out a sigh and smiled at Hikaru.

"Thank you." she said gratefully before rushing off to the changing room.

Hikaru turned red.

" 'Thank you' for what?" he muttered before getting his own touch ups done.

* * *

><p>After 'Kimagure Rock' was over, Kyoko ran into Ren who offered to give her a ride home. Apparently he had had an interview in the same building where her TV show was and Yashiro had left by himself (in the hope to get Kyoko and his friend some alone time).<p>

At first she declined politely, but after using the fake-gentleman smile and saying how dangerous it was for girls to walk in the dark on their own, she accepted.

They sat in uncomfortable silence until Ren asked how her day had been.

"Very exciting! I had acting lessons first which are always very helpful. Did I tell you about this week's acting challenge?"

Ren shook his head. The president had told him about this new concept and Ren thought it sounded very intriguing. Kyoko had told him about a few of the challenges; some of them sounded easy and some difficult but they had one thing in common - they were all eccentric, just like the president. They also seemed to be some kind of entertainment for those who weren't chosen for it.

"Well, this week it got Sasaki Norio and Sato Yuki." Kyoko told him, not noticing Ren's slight twitch at the second name.

"Norio-kun got quite an easy one which was good since it was his first. He had to act like his best friend which was kind of funny, since it was Yuki-kun."

Kyoko laughed when she recalled Norio walking around all day acting exactly like his best friend.

Ren glanced at her sideways and got caught in the expression on her face. Whenever she laughed, she was practically glowing and her smile looked dazzling.

He quickly jerked his gaze back to the front when a car behind him honked.

"Yuki-kun got a harder one. I feel a little sorry for him. He pulled the 'Switch Your Gender' card." Kyoko snuck a sideways glance at her sempai, hoping she wasn't revealing enough for him to discover her friend's secret.

He didn't seem to have caught anything though. Kyoko continued, relieved at this.

"He was very convincing. Even Matsushima was impressed. He actually complimented both of them." Kyoko mused.

Ren had to suppress a laugh. It wasn't that hard for him to imagine his cousin as a girl since she actually was one, but to _act _like a girl…he wanted to see that.

He flashed Kyoko a smile.

"That sounds like an interesting morning. What about the rest of the day?"

"I had 'Box R' after that and then I sort of messed up a little." Kyoko blushed and sank into her seat. She didn't want to tell her sempai that she had gotten her schedule mixed up since she had to fit in more work now. He would be disappointed in her and she didn't want that.

Ren noticed her going red and looking a little guilty.

"What happened, Mogami-san?" he asked gently, so as not to scare her. Whenever she looked guilty it usually meant that she had done something she thought he would disapprove of.

"I..I messed up my schedule." she confessed and looked up at him. She faltered under his unfathomable gaze. She shrunk further into her seat as her demons began to detect anger from him.

Ren was feeling annoyed. He had known that Kyoko had gotten more job offers recently and he thought that the president probably encouraged her to take more than she should. She still had to go to school, for goodness' sake. She didn't have the same amount of time to use on work as the other actors. Ren made a mental note to talk to the president.

Kyoko had noticed the dark atmosphere around her sempai getting worse. She couldn't take it anymore, she had to say something.

"I'm sorry, Tsuruga-san! I messed up my schedule, I'm so unprofessional! I'm not worthy to be your kohai!" she bowed her head continuously since she couldn't do dogezas in the car.

Ren parked the car in front of the Darumaya and turned to face Kyoko.

"One: it's Ren. We have been friends for long enough that you can call me that."

Kyoko began to protest but he laid a finger across her mouth. She blushed at the casual contact and Ren withdrew, smiling slightly as he noted how cute she looked.

"And two: the schedule is not your fault. You are simply very busy. As long as you aren't late it's fine. Were you late?"

Kyoko cowered a little at the slightly threatening undertone. She shook her head vigorously.

Ren chuckled.

"Well, then there's nothing to be worried about."

Kyoko nodded and opened the car door. Before closing it she stuck her head inside the door and smiled at Ren. His heart sped up a little.

"Good night…Ren-san." She hesitatingly said.

Ren couldn't believe his ears but wasn't questioning his luck. He gave her a warm smile. He debated whether to use her name as well, then decided against it.

_I probably had my luck for tonight._

"Good night, Mogami-san."

Now it was Kyoko's heart that sped up a little. That smile just seemed to melt her from the inside out.

Noticing that she was still looking inside the car and beginning to blush, she slammed the door shut.

She nodded to the man sitting inside and rushed into the house.

Ren smiled to himself as he recalled her blushes and use of his first name. He then sighed as he remembered something else. Digging out his cell phone, he called the president.

* * *

><p>"You wanted to see me, Takarada-san?"<p>

A week after his acting challenge, Yuki was standing in the president's office after having been sent a message via the company phone he had gotten upon working here.

Takarada looked up at the sound of Yuki's voice and smiled at him. He sat up from his reclining position on a Greek style lounge and waved Yuki over.

"Sato-kun, how good of you to come here, I was just thinking that I need some advice from you." He pointed a controller at the screen in front of him. It showed the image of an animated boy and girl who seemed to be frozen in some date situation.

"What would you do if your girlfriend made you a bento you didn't like, would you A.) eat it all anyway B.) ask her to make you another one C.) throw it away and break up with her?"

Takarada looked at him expectantly.

Yuki had absolutely no idea what to answer.

"Uh…" Yuki said. He was rescued by a knocking on the door and he quickly went to get it.

"Kyoko-chan?" he asked, surprised. She looked up at him mirroring his expression.

"Ah, she's here? Do come in, Mogami-kun."

Yuki opened the door completely and Kyoko stepped inside.

Takarada got up from the lounge and walked towards them, his long, white ancient Greek style robe grazing the floor as he did so.

"I asked you both to come here because I have something to discuss with you two."

Yuki and Kyoko looked at each other.

"Do you know what this is about?" Yuki whispered to her.

Kyoko just shook her head.

"This is about you getting a manager. Or at least a temporary one as long as you're not a full fledged actress." Takarada explained when he came to a halt.

He gestured for both of them to sit on the steps of his stage while he sat back down on the lounge.

"I have heard from a certain actor that your working schedule is becoming very hectic and that you're losing sight of it." he said to Kyoko, sounding serious for once.

Kyoko's eyes widened. How did he know that?

Then she remembered what she had told her sempai and felt a little ashamed. She looked up at the president pleadingly.

"Takarada-san, I will pay very close attention to my schedule from now on. I promise I won't mess it up again."

He shook his head.

"This has nothing to do with that. You can't manage it yourself anymore, that means you are getting more work which in turn means you are closer than ever to being a real actress. Seeing that you will debut soon you will need a manager anyway, so we can assign you a temporary one to help in the meantime."

Yuki was listening but beginning to ask himself why he was here. If this was just a discussion about Kyoko getting a manager what did that have to do with him?

As if having read his mind, the president glanced at him and grinned.

"That's where you come in, Sato-kun."

"What?"

The president got up and struck a pose.

"You next LoveMe task is: being a temporary manager for Mogami-kun!"

* * *

><p>"I'm really sorry, Yuki-kun!" Kyoko almost hit her forehead on the ground repeatedly as she did dogezas. "I'm making you do something so troublesome!"<p>

Yuki looked down at her in alarm.

After Takarada's proclamation of Yuki's next LoveMe task, they had gone down to see Sawara as he had all of Kyoko's offers for work. Yuki took them from him and Kyoko had thrown herself on the floor.

"It's not your fault, Kyoko-chan. Anyway, the president is right; you're getting so well known recently that a manager seems necessary." Yuki hastily said, pulling her out of her kneeling position.

"I just need to match up your schedule to mine." he smiled at her encouragingly. She nodded hesitatingly.

Then she looked down at her wristwatch and gasped in horror. Kyoko quickly grabbed Yuki's arm and dragged him to LME's cafeteria.

"W-what's going on?"

"I'm going to be late! For once, Moko-san agreed to have lunch in the cafeteria and I'm late!" she shouted with Yuki stumbling behind her.

"Is it just Kotonami-san?" Yuki asked. She nodded and sped up as she saw the cafeteria doors.

Once there, she let go of Yuki's arm and ran toward a frozen gaudy pink figure with raven black hair.

"Moko-saaaan!" Kyoko yelled, running toward her best friend with her arms wide open.

Kanae almost dropped her lunch tray in shock when she saw a bright pink lightning bolt race toward her.

"Mo! Stop doing that! If you want a hug, do it like a normal person!" she shouted, dodging Kyoko while managing to hold onto her lunch. She froze when she saw another person in a pink jumpsuit turn up and narrowed her eyes at him.

Before she could say anything, her friend tackled her successfully.

"Oof!" Kanae exclaimed as she descended toward the ground. Her tray clattered on the floor beside her. She glared up at Yuki who was standing behind the shocked Kyoko.

"Oh no! I'm so sorry!" she cried before kneeling down and apologising profusely.

"It's not your fault, Kyoko-chan." she said and slowly got up without looking away from Yuki.

He lifted his eyebrows and looked at the mess on the floor. One of the cafeteria staff had already come by and was almost done cleaning it up.

"I'll get you a new lunch. Cobb salad, was it?" he asked Kanae with a friendly smile.

She nodded reluctantly and he disappeared in the direction of the bar.

Kanae looked back at the blubbering Kyoko who looked like she was ready to cry.

"Mo! Stop crying! It wasn't your fault, I told you already."

By the time they arrived at an empty table she had been able to calm her best friend down again. Kyoko dug through her little overall bag and produced a small purse which jingled. She peered inside and smiled happily.

"I'll go get lunch. I'll be right back okay?"

Kanae nodded and she was gone. She followed her friend with her eyes and was surprised to notice that she had disappeared behind a small crowd which seemed to be made up of the cafeteria staff.

She wondered what was going on. She didn't have to figure it out herself; a few minutes later Kyoko was dragging an embarrassed Yuki by the arm towards her table.

He slid one of the trays he was holding in front of Kanae and sat down opposite her while Kyoko took the seat next to her. Kyoko started eating without a comment while Yuki left his tray in front of him, untouched.

"What happened?" Kanae asked curiously. It wasn't like to Kyoko not to chatter away and glower at her food instead while she attacked it viciously.

"I was held up." Yuki said, before Kyoko interrupted.

"The cafeteria staff were saying how admirable Yuki-kun was for buying a new lunch for Moko-san. When they saw that he wasn't getting anything for himself, they all pushed food onto him, saying how 'the poor boy is too skinny, he must eat more'." Kyoko glared at Yuki who flinched.

Kanae felt a little guilty. She hadn't thought of that.

"I'm sor-" she began when Yuki shook his head. He smiled at her.

"I'm just not hungry, so it has nothing to do with my financial situation."

"Then why-" Kanae attempted to say before being interrupted again.

"Not hungry?" Kyoko shrieked, jumping up at him. They both looked at her with wide eyes.

"Tell me again, Yuki-kun, what and when did you food today?" she asked threateningly.

"Uh… I had an apple at about 7." he said, stunned. Kyoko's nostrils flared and Kanae and Yuki shrunk away from her as she radiated a dark aura.

"And it's 2 now. That's 7 hours without food. Your body needs food to stay healthy. You" she pointed her finger at him. "will eat _everything _on that tray!"

Kyoko sat back down and crossed her arms in front of her, watching Yuki's every move.

Yuki looked down at his tray laden with food hesitatingly and back up at Kyoko who was staring relentlessly. Slowly, he picked up a fork and began eating even slower.

15 minutes later, Kanae and Kyoko had both finished their lunch and watched Yuki force himself to eat. He had barely eaten a quarter of his lunch.

He halted momentarily to try and ease the growing pain in his stomach as Kyoko suddenly jumped up.

Kanae looked at him sympathetically. The poor guy just looked too tortured. They both looked up when Kyoko's voice called out.

"Tsuruga-san, Yashiro-san, come sit with us!" She waved excitedly towards the slowly approaching figures.

Ren walked a little faster when he heard Kyoko call out. He smiled as he waved back, noting two other figures in bright pink sitting at her table. Ren recognised them as Kanae and Yuki.

He ignored the admiring and envious whispers as he walked toward her.

Ren stopped walking once he had reached the table, Yashiro beside him.

Kyoko gestured towards the two free seats that were left, one on her right and one on Yuki's left.

"Please, sit down sempai! We were just having lunch." she smiled at him.

"Alright, then." Ren slid into the seat next to Kyoko and was pleased to notice her turn a light shade of pink when he accidentally brushed her arm. He smiled and looked over at Yuki who looked like he was in pain. Ren looked down at his tray and could sympathise; that was a huge amount of food.

Looking up at Yuki, his eyes bored into Ren's. They seemed to be begging him for something.

Yashiro sat down in the only seat left and surveyed the scene. He saw that the two girls had already finished. The one boy sitting with them still had an almost full tray and looked like he was in pain, an expression that looked all to familiar. He saw the look traded between his charge and the boy and was surprised. Did they know each other?

Before he could ask, Kyoko had been able to get her blush under control. She looked back at Yuki's tray and saw that he had stopped eating. Her eyes narrowed dangerously.

"That's all? I said the whole tray."

Yuki and Ren both flinched and Yashiro looked at them in amazement.

Kanae got up. She couldn't watch anymore; it was just too painful. She cleared her throat as everyone suddenly looked at her.

"Moko-san?" Kyoko looked up at her pleadingly. "Where are you going?"

"I've got a drama in an hour. I need to go now to get there in in time." she said gruffly, subtly motioning for Yuki to leave. She didn't like him but that was no reason for him to get sick from having lunch shovelled down his throat.

Yuki's eyes widened in understanding. He quietly slipped out of his seat and picked up his tray, covered by Kanae's explanation about her drama. No one noticed him slip away except for Ren who mouthed 'good luck' at him. Yuki grinned and nodded at Kanae in thanks before disappearing out of the cafeteria.

"So that's all. I'll leave now." Kanae finished and left before Kyoko could notice that she tricked her. She grimaced as she heard Kyoko cry out in frustration upon discovering Yuki's disappearance.

Ren flinched when Kyoko cried out in exasperation.

"Seriously, you know who he reminds me of?" she asked the two remaining people at the table. Kyoko glared at Ren who suddenly felt nervous.

"You." she pointed at him. Without taking her eyes off of him, she continued.

"Yashiro-san, will you please make sure that Tsuruga-san stays here until I'm back?"

She left without waiting for an answer.

Yashiro leaned toward Ren.

"How do you know that boy?" he asked him.

"Oh, that's Yuki-kun, Kyoko's friend." he said nonchalantly. "Haven't you met him yet?"

Yashiro pulled back and shook his head, baffled. Wouldn't Ren usually be seething with jealousy by now?

Then Kyoko was back, with another full tray. She set it in front of Ren with a thump and proceeded to sit down right in front of him.

"I bet you haven't eaten anything today at all. At least Yuki-kun had an apple. Eat."

Kyoko's tone didn't allow any protest. Ren meekly obeyed and Yashiro almost laughed in amusement and relief. Apparently having another friend with a small appetite didn't take away any of her attention from Ren.

"So, how come you're eating here today?" Kyoko asked brightly without leaving Ren out of her eyesight.

Yashiro felt sorry for him.

_Thank goodness I have some digestive tablets in my bag._

"Ah, Ren had some time in his schedule so we thought we might eat here." Yashiro replied and picked up his chopsticks again.

* * *

><p>After Kyoko had forced Ren to finish the whole tray, they excused themselves.<p>

Ren's face was tinged green and contorted in pain. He collapsed onto Yashiro as soon as they were out of Kyoko's eyesight.

Yashiro coaxed his charge into his car where he sat him down.

Digging out a couple of digestive tablets and a bottle of water out of his bag he presented them to Ren.

"Eat up." he said cheerfully.

Ren groaned and took the pills from his palm. Handing the water back to Yashiro he looked at him painfully.

"Please don't use that phrase."

Yashiro's chuckle got stuck in his throat when he saw Kyoko and Yuki walk out of the building together. They were walking towards a black, speedy-looking motorbike.

Yuki had just handed Kyoko, who was looking doubtful, the spare helmet when Ren got out from his car an called over to them.

"Do you need a ride Mogami-san?"

Kyoko looked over and gave him a dazzling smile, making his heart beat faster.

"Don't worry Tsuruga-san. Since Yuki-kun is my manager now he can drive me where I need to go."

"But isn't a motorbike a little dangerous?" Ren protested.

Yashiro could have sworn that that comment was not only directed at Kyoko. He got out as well and smiled at the two teenagers.

"Where do you need to go? We could drop you off." he offered after a side glance at Ren.

"Oh no, we couldn't possibly impose on you like that!"Kyoko protested.

Ren gave her his best fake-gentleman smile.

"It's no problem at all."

* * *

><p>Notes - Thank you for all the reviews and story subsciptions! I hope you enjoyed this chapter.<p>

To 21han - I hope this chapter answers your questionXD

More will be added to that topic in future chapters.


	12. Enemies or Allies?

Disclaimer: I do not own Skip Beat! or any of its characters

Side note: This isn't a fan fiction only about the actual characters. This fan fiction is mostly about and from the point of view of an OC although I will include known characters later in the story. Also, this is set after the Heel Siblings.

* * *

><p>Chapter 12 - Enemies or Allies?<p>

A little later, all four of them were at the same studio. They were sitting at a big table with the rest of the cast, waiting for the last person to arrive. More specifically, Ren and Kyoko were sitting and waiting while Yashiro was looking at Yuki intently who was trying to ignore the other manager's stares.

Yuki sighed, finally having enough. He turned to Yashiro in exasperation.

"Is there something you have to say to me,…?" he said, making it obvious that he didn't know his name.

Kyoko jumped up guiltily.

"I'm sorry, I forgot to introduce you. Yuki-kun, this is Yashiro-san, Tsuruga-san's manager. Yashiro-san, this is Sato Yuki. He is in the LoveMe section like me and was assigned to me as temporary manager." she gestured between the two.

Yuki stood up and bowed respectfully.

"Nice to meet you, Yashiro-san."

Yashiro smiled thinly. He was still trying to find out where he and Ren might have met before. And why him and Kyoko were so familiar already.

"Likewise, Sato-kun." He remembered to say.

"Just Yuki-kun is fine." Yuki corrected him with a genuine smile. Yashiro was obviously his cousin's friend, so he wanted them to be on good terms with each other.

Yashiro was a little taken aback by the boy's smile. It seemed to sincere. So why was he getting a strange kind of vibe from between Ren and Yuki?

Then director Fujioka burst into the room. She was a short, plump sort of woman who looked motherly but was renowned for her strict but fair working policy.

"He's finally arrived!" she said relieved. The film meeting was supposed to have started half an hour ago but due to a traffic accident, the other male lead in the movie, Kijima Hidehito, was late.

He strolled into the room, not perturbed by the dirty looks he was getting from the rest of the cast in the least.

Kijima grinned when he saw Kyoko and Ren, who was giving him a tight smile, and waved. Kyoko stood up and bowed in greeting.

"It's good to see you again, Kijima-san." she said before sitting down again.

"You too, Mogami-san." he responded and sat down in the seat opposite her. He smiled at her, intent on starting a conversation when he was interrupted.

"Now, that the last cast member has finally arrived," director Fujioka shot him a stern look, "we can begin the reading."

* * *

><p>During the break, Yuki left for the bathroom. He had been so fascinated by the reading thathe hadn't noticed how he had drunk one cup of tea after another that a hired waiter had been serving to all people present.<p>

He had just finished washing his hands, when he heard the door behind him open with a slight creaking noise.

Yuki turned around and came face to face with Ren's manager.

Yashiro smiled at him tightly.

"You and Kyoko-chan have a friendly relationship. How long have you known each other?" he asked in a forced friendly tone.

Yuki rolled his eyes.

"Yashiro-san, with all due respect. Tsuruga-san makes a better interrogator than you do. Why don't you ask me what you really want to know? Like if Kyoko and I are going out?"

Yashiro jumped guiltily, letting the emotion show on his face.

"I'm sorry, Yuki-kun. It's just that…well…it's complicated." Yashiro finished lamely.

Yuki glanced at him while checking his mobile.

That Fuwa idiot hadn't sent an sms yet. He had taken to spamming Yuki's phone with missed calls and messages to quite literally hammer the meeting times into his head. At least he wasn't knocking at his apartment door yet.

"Kyoko-chan and I are nothing but friends. That won't change, Yashiro-san." he smiled reassuringly at the older man.

The disbelieving look on his face spoke volumes. Yuki sighed.

"Look, I know that Tsuruga-san is head over heels in love with Kyoko. I respect him too much to make him an enemy." he patiently explained.

Plus some other things that would prevent me from falling for Kyoko.

Yashiro looked at the boy in shock. Was Ren being so obvious that even strangers could tell?

"How do you know Ren so well?" he asked suspiciously. The boy looked surprised.

"I don't. What makes you say that?" Yuki fended off. He hoped that Yashiro couldn't hear the nervousness trembling in his voice.

Yashiro only became more suspicious at his strong reaction. He opened his mouth to say something when a loud melody echoed in the bathroom.

Yuki quickly picked up his mobile. He let out an annoyed sigh when he saw who it was.

"What do you want? We're not meeting for another four hours."

Yashiro's ears strained to hear more as he recognised the voice coming from the phone.

"Yeah…yeah…I got it. See ya then." Yuki rolled his eyes in annoyance as he cut the connection mid-rant. He turned back to Yashiro who was looking at him in shock.

"How do you know Fuwa Sho?"

"I…ah…work with him." Yuki confessed, a little embarrassed.

He knew the gist of the relationships between Sho, Kyoko and Ren after the incident with the singer in the LoveMe room. If that was anything to go by, mentioning Sho in front of those two or Yashiro probably wasn't a good idea.

As predicted, Yashiro turned red in anger. Pushing his face into Yuki's, he grabbed his shirt by the front.

Somehow Yuki felt like this had happened before.

"You what?" he breathed, his voice frighteningly calm. "You work for Fuwa? Is he paying you to get Kyoko back?"

"What? No. I'm writing music with him. And I'm his new guitarist." Yuki said incredulously, forgetting that he was very close to being beaten up, never mind being clueless as to how to defend himself.

"I don't even now what you're talking about." Yuki continued.

Yashiro let him go in surprise.

"Kyoko-chan hasn't told you?"

Yuki looked at him questioningly.

"Hasn't told me about what?"

"Ah, you see…it's not really my secret to tell." Yashiro said, suddenly looking flustered. Yuki shrugged.

"I'll ask her then." He turned to leave.

"You really shouldn't. I doubt she'll say anything anyway. She doesn't like to talk about her past at all." Yashiro said hastily.

A slight pause.

"Did Fuwa do something to her?" Yuki asked, following a sudden intuition.

Yashiro froze and then looked down, abashed.

"I can't say." His head snapped up and gave Yuki a forced smile. "It may impact on your working relationship with him, so maybe it's better you don't know."

Yuki frowned, his curiosity piqued. He really wanted to know but Yashiro had already made it clear that he wouldn't tell him. And that Kyoko would feel bad if he asked. He sighed.

"I guess I'll just wait until she tells me."

Yashiro nodded in agreement, his respect for the boy growing a little at the maturity he displayed.

"But there is one thing I'd need your help for." Yuki gave his typical smile to the older man.

After hearing him out, Yashiro was beaming and trying to keep himself from falling into fan girl-mode. He grabbed Yuki's hand and shook it.

"Deal."

* * *

><p>Back in the meeting room the reading was back in full swing. Yuki closed the door behind him as quietly as he could but that didn't seem to matter anyway. All the actors who were reading seemed to be in their own world that no one but themselves could get them out of.<p>

Yuki leaned against a wall, out of the way, listening and watching in awe.

The actors weren't acting completely, but the slight gestures and the way they applied different tones to their voices was already an incredible sight. The air was filled with tension one moment and the next it was light and fun again just to sink into despair after that. It had been like this for hours.

"It's incredible, isn't it? No matter how often I do readings, I'm always amazed." Fujioka whispered.

From the first time she saw the young boy come in she found him intriguing. His luminously pale skin, gleaming eyes, ink black hair and calm personality would make him a perfect match for one of the roles in the movie.

If only he was a girl.

She sighed.

The boy smiled at her comment. He nodded, agreeing. Then his brows furrowed.

"Who is that?" he pointed at the girl currently reading.

She had long honey blond hair and bright blue eyes. She was about average height with a very good figure and pale skin. In short, she was beautiful.

Fujioka looked at the boy curiously. Was he interested in her?

"That's Kouenji Anita, Kouenji Erika's cousin." she answered, gauging his reaction. Her name was relatively well known: her family owned a wealthy company and her cousin was in the industry as well. Many suspected that the two girls used their name and wealth to gain roles but no one dared to accuse them, lest their company would destroy them.

Yuki only lifted an eyebrow in surprise. She had looked familiar somehow. Now he knew why.

"I think her cousin has more talent." he whispered, not intending for anyone to hear him.

It was true; even though Erika's personality was horrid she undeniably possessed some acting talent. Unlike her beautiful but dreary cousin.

Anita was simply reading the lines. Not that she was bad at it - she read fluently and added pauses at the right points, but she didn't use any tone. It simply sounded like reading when it was supposed to sound animated, alive.

Fujioka who had worked with Erika before found herself nodding in response to the boy's statement. She looked at him in surprise.

"How do you know her cousin?"

"We auditioned for LME at the same time and both got into the same section." he answered reluctantly.

He hadn't wanted anyone to hear for a number of reasons - he was new and could easily be ruined before he got anywhere as a musician. He could also be taken seriously (although he doubted it) and the director might change her mind about the role which would ensue in chaos since the official filming was supposed to start in a week's time.

"Would you like to try out for her role?" Fujioka said before she could stop herself. She had been supposed to give the role to Anita because of a favour to her father. They had been good friends for a long time and she had been honest with him, telling him that she didn't think that Anita had the necessary talent. Her father had agreed; she had never been interested in acting before now but he wanted her to act just to see if she might enjoy it.

But now Fujioka had found someone a lot more suitable to the role. Granted, she didn't know if the boy could act, but if he was in the famed LoveMe section - and the uniform he was wearing confirmed that - like the incredibly talented Kyoko he couldn't be too bad could he?

Yuki felt not only surprised but shocked at the director's suggestion. Had she guessed his secret?

"But I'm not a girl." he said, trying to sound calm.

Fujioka smiled back in response.

"I know boys don't like to hear stuff like this but you are pretty enough to be one."

Yuki let a little bit of irritation show instead of blushing in pleasure of hearing the compliment like he wanted to.

'You don't have to, of course." Fujioka hastily added when she saw his eyebrow twitch in irritation. He was probably one of those boys who had been dealt with being called a girl his whole life.

Yuki opened his mouth to respond when a frustrated shriek came from the other side of the room. They both looked at its source.

"I've had enough! If you need to correct me all the time, why don't you just beg the director for a new actress to fill my role?" Anita shouted. She stomped her feet in frustration and ran out of the room. Her temporary manager quickly followed. The rest of the cast were stunned.

"What happened?" Fujioka asked urgently. She really didn't have the time to look for a new actress as Anita had suggested; this had to work or she would have to drop the whole project.

Kijima shrugged at her helplessly.

Ren smiled so brilliantly that the rest of the female cast immediately felt giddy, except for Kyoko who was trying to scramble away from him. She herself looked a little annoyed and sad.

Fujioka sighed.

"I guess it can't be helped. I might really need another actress." she ignored everyone's horrified gasps and looked at the rest of the main cast.

"How far have you gotten?"

"About halfway through, before Kouenji-san ran off throwing a hissy fit." Ren said, still smiling brilliantly.

Yuki tensed and Yashiro looked like he was waiting for an explosion to happen. Kyoko cautiously edged towards him again and touched him on the arm. Ren looked at her in surprise and then smiled genuinely. Yashiro's eyes widened and Yuki visibly relaxed.

"Are you okay, Tsuruga-san?" she asked, looking at him in concern.

"Yes." he said simply. He looked at the Kijima who nodded and then at the director.

"We are ready to continue when Kouenji-san comes back."

"That won't happen." a hollow voice from the door said.

Everyone turned to look at Anita's temporary manager. She swallowed in sudden nervousness at being the centre of attention.

"She quit."

Complete silence. Then -

"She WHAT?" Kijima shouted, running out of the door.

Ren wasn't smiling anymore. Instead, he emitted a killer aura and not even Kyoko dared to stay next to him.

Several cast members were trying to talk to the director at once, asking what was going to happen.

Yuki just stood immobile, not having moved an inch from where he was standing since he came back. Now he was thinking rapidly. He wanted this to go well; it would be Kyoko's, his friend's debut as an actress. At the thought of her, he looked across the room.

She was standing as still as he was. Not a tear was running down her face but she looked devastated. She had really wanted to play this role.

Yuki felt sudden anger directed at the person who caused this. He wanted to do something.

Ren had stepped beside Kyoko, his face expressing exactly what Yuki was feeling, if not even stronger emotions. But there was nothing he could do.

Then Yuki remembered. Ren might be unable to be Kyoko's knight in shining armour in this but Yuki had the ability to.

Forgive me, Kuon. You can rescue your princess next time.

He took a deep breath and stepped towards Fujioka who was beginning to feel overwhelmed from so many people wanting to hear her opinion at the same time.

"Fujioka-san? Can I talk to you?"

Fujioka smiled gratefully and nodded.

"Excuse me. I will see what I can do." she said, pushing herself out from all the hysterical actors.

No one except Yashiro noticed the director and Yuki slipping out of the room. He itched to know what was going on but he had his hands full trying to keep his charge from exploding in anger. Besides, the door was already blocked by the rest of the remaining cast.

Kijima came back at this moment and managed to squeeze himself through the door.

"I couldn't find that little irresponsible brat." he growled when he reached the trio. "She really did just run off."

Kyoko was beginning to understand what was happening.

She seethed.

"Doesn't she understand that anyone would do anything to get an opportunity as big as this? Does she understand that people like us have worked hard to get where we are?" Her voice shook with repressed anger.

Yashiro looked at her in shock, Kijima and Ren in admiration. They both nodded in agreement.

"I really want to give her a piece of my mind. I don't care who her family is." Kyoko raged and prepared to run for the door. Ren and Yashiro reached forward to hold her back but that wasn't necessary anymore.

Director Fujioka came back into the room, closely followed by a stony-faced Yuki.

Everyone calmed down at seeing Fujioka, especially since she actually seemed happy.

"Everyone, please don't break down. I have found someone else to play the role abandoned by Kouenji-san."

For some reason, Ren had a bad feeling about this. He glanced over at Yuki who seemed as stoic as before, if not stiffer.

"Meet Sato Yuki." Fujioka gestured for Yuki to come to the front.

Everyone gasped, some in admiration, most in horror.

"But Fujioka-san…Sato-kun is a boy." Kijima told the director.

She rolled her eyes.

"I can see that. But don't you agree that he could pull off playing a girl's part?"

Yuki's eyebrow twitched slightly. Ren admired his composure, just like Kyoko was.

"Are you okay with that, Yuki-kun?" she called to him.

He genuinely smiled at her, oblivious to the reaction he was causing which was almost as great as Ren's smile. Ren had to suppress a laugh.

"Yes."

Most females in the room heard his voice for the first time; it was silky and smooth, young but undeniably male. They near fainted.

Kyoko smiled back at him, as oblivious to the reaction of any males in the room as Yuki. Ren nearly growled and Yashiro was happy that he seemed back to normal.

"Alright."

Kijima watched this exchange with jealousy. It wasn't that he didn't get his share of female admiration; he did. It was just that a kid like him got the one girl's admiration that had mildly piqued his interest just like that which irked him.

"But how do you know if that kid can act?" he loudly asked the director.

The rest of the cast agreed, voicing objections as well.

"Kijima-san is right!"

"Yeah! What if he's worse than the other girl?"

Fujioka had asked Yuki the same question outside and he had simply said one thing that convinced her that he was perfect for the part.

"I only approached you about this because I care about Kyoko-chan. She is a very good friend of mine. This is important to her and I will do anything to make this a successful debut for her."

His character would be the same - putting her friends before herself, always. Even if it meant giving up on the one you loved.

That's why Fujioka now smiled confidently.

"Yuki has not acted before, but he is ready to do anything to make this a success. He has promised to step down when asked to but I doubt he will be."

Everyone was still eyeing the bishounen suspiciously.

"If you don't believe me, we could act out one of the script's scenes. That would be a fair test, no?" Fujioka suggested. She chuckled as the cast slowly began to nod in agreement.

* * *

><p>Yuki was given ten minutes to familiarise himself with the chosen scene. He skimmed through the pages, murmuring lines as he did so. He had always noticed that saying things out loud seemed to stick in his memory better than when he simply read it. His mind was piecing the character together as he memorised more and more lines. After ten minutes, he had finished memorising the scene.<p>

Yuki joined the trio who were in the main cast plus Yashiro.

Kijima noticed him first and stopped flirting with the girl beside him. She seemed very flustered but glad of the distraction and fled.

"Well, Yuki-chan, did you come to us to beg for help?" he jibed, not being able to disguise his mistrust and jealousy.

Yuki didn't show any reaction. He knew that adding -chan to his name was just Kijima testing him.

"No. I'm done with learning the lines." he said calmly and smiled at him in a friendly manner. If he had to end up acting with this guy, he wanted to get along.

Kijima felt a little irritated at the boy's unexpected reaction. Any guy would have risen to the bait if his masculinity was insulted, so why didn't he?

Kyoko joined the two from across the room where she had been talking to Ren and Yashiro.

"Do you think you'll do okay?" she anxiously asked Yuki.

Yuki tried hard not to look worried. He didn't want to disappoint his friend.

"I'm sure he will do just fine." A hand was set on his right shoulder and he turned his face sideways to see his cousin smiling at him encouragingly.

Kyoko watched this with a slight twinge of….what was it? She didn't want to name it. She suspected that it would only bring her downfall.

"Thanks." Yuki said gratefully. Then Ren's smile turned fake-gentlemanly.

"Otherwise we might really have to look for a new actor." he added.

Kyoko and Yashiro backed away while Kijima watched them in confusion. Was he missing something?

On the surface, Ren's words sounded harmless. But what he was really saying was written in his eyes - you make Kyoko cry and I'll make sure your career ends here.

Yuki felt a slight chill. Having grown up around Kuon, he had felt this sort of vibe before if not as intense. But even that gave him enough resilience to look back at him and give him his own calm smile.

"I'll make sure you don't." he said as sweetly as he could without sounding weird for a guy.

Yashiro and Kyoko looked at him with wide eyes while Ren narrowed his at him.

"Are you ready, Sato-kun?" Fujioka interrupted their little staring match.

He turned and smiled at her.

"Yes."

She smiled back widely, not able to wait for what would happen. If he was only a little better than Anita he would still be able to get the role. And she didn't doubt that he would be.

"Alright, in your places please. Take it from the beginning of the scene." Fujioka called.

Ren and Kyoko took their places while Kijima stepped away. He wasn't in this scene.

In the scene, Ren was courting Kyoko. He played a prince who was in an arranged marriage with Kyoko's character. Unfortunately, he was actually in love with Anita's, now Yuki's role, who was playing a half-fairy, half-human. Their love was rejected because it seemed immoral.

Kyoko role's situation was very similar. She had grown up in a kingdom close to a portal to the fairy realm. She had frequently met and became friends with a fairy prince. As they grew up they fell in love. Their rejection was based on similar issues to the other pair. This was one of the reasons why neither told the other about their relationships.

Needless to say that Kyoko was in La-La land as soon as she received the offer.

Ren and Kyoko began the scene by sitting on a bench provided in the room. They both tried to look happy but they often glanced away from each other and longing became visible on their faces.

Yuki hid in the bushes - or behind the table - watching with the same longing as them. He sat there, silent, for so long that people began to wonder if he forgot his lines. Suddenly they heard a whisper, which made Ren who sat nearer to strain to hear him - the exact required action at that moment.

Yuki whispered his lines so softly that it almost sounds like nothing.

People looked at him, stunned. He sounded exactly like a girl; the quality of his voice was still the same but now obviously female and it sounded natural too. Mesmerised, they continued to watch him.

Ren looked deeply disappointed when the voice didn't speak again. He slumped slightly without losing the princely aura. Everyone's eyes filled with tears.

Kyoko attempted a smile and tried to engage the prince in conversation but he only responded in nods or not at all. Her face filled with pain and she looked away again, blinking her own tears away.

A tear rolled over the visible part of Yuki's face as it expressed even deeper longing and the pain that came with it. He stood up quietly, gracefully and walked out of the room without being noticed by the couple sitting on the bench.

Fujioka smiled at them proudly and went to get Yuki.

The scene obviously over, Ren helped Kyoko up. She took his hand and smiled at him.

"How do you think Yuki-kun went?" she asked him, burning with curiosity.

Ren grinned and swept his arm to indicate the whole room.

"Let's ask them." He looked at Kijima. "What did you think?"

Kijima was stunned, just like the rest of the cast. Against his own will, he had been as absorbed in the scene like everyone else. He shrugged his shoulders, unable to say anything.

Ren looked back at Kyoko.

"If Kijima-san can't say anything it seems he passed."

Kyoko's face lit up in joy.

* * *

><p>Yuki was pacing, his hand running through his hair until it stood up in all directions. He thought about the scene just now and almost felt nauseous.<p>

Quickly, he held a hand to his mouth.

Just now Fujioka had explained to him the whole story of the script.

It was a love story which was fine but - and this was a big one - the love as between Kijima's and Kyoko's role.

And as if that wasn't bad enough, Ren's role was in love with Yuki's role.

Yuki shuddered. He really should have read through the rest of the script first.

What was he supposed to do now?

"Yuki-kun?" Fujioka suddenly said.

She looked at him a little worriedly. She had gone to get some more tea for both of them so they could talk about the role.

"Fujioka-san." Yuki looked at her with wide eyes.

She gently the cups down on the coffee table and the chairs that were set against the wall. Inviting him to sit with her, she smiled at him.

"Yes?"

"I can't do the role." Yuki burst out.

Fujioka was shocked. She paused and stared at him.

"But didn't you say you would do anything for Kyoko?"

"Well, yes." he admitted, avoiding her searching gaze.

She laughed as the penny dropped.

"Oh, you really didn't read through the script properly, did you?"

Yuki shook his head ashamedly.

"If this about your role's and Ren's interaction, I wouldn't be too worried. Your roles barely touch throughout the whole movie, only occasional hugs."

"Really?" Yuki asked, relieved.

He'd been so worried. She let out another laugh and pressed a cup of tea into his hands.

"Really." Fujioka confirmed, patting him on the arm reassuredly. "And there's only a single kissing scene. Not between yours and Ren's role."

Yuki slowly looked up at her, his eyes holding a mixture of relief and a sense of foreboding.

"It's Kyoko and Kijima?"

Fujioka nodded, happy that he seemed back to normal.

Yuki forced himself to smile calmly as he processed this new piece of information. Him and Yashiro had to come up with a plan, fast.

* * *

><p>"Thanks for dropping me off, Tsuruga-san." Yuki told his cousin before exiting the car.<p>

Forgetting something, he stuck his head back inside to look at Yashiro.

"Yashiro-san. I heard that you're enthusiastic about motorbikes. Is that true?"

"Huh?" Yashiro looked at him with wide eyes. Where would that boy have heard that from? He absolutely hated anything speedy, even roller coasters.

Yuki stared at him intently, flicking his eyes over at his motorbike, the only vehicle left in the LME parking lot.

Finally getting the drift, Yashiro jumped.

"Ah, yes. I'd love to have a look at yours."

He quickly unbuckled his seatbelt, ignoring his charge's incredulous stares.

"But Yashiro, you hate anything that moves fast. You tell me to drive at least 20 km under the speed limit."

"Tsuruga-san's right, Yashiro-san." Kyoko chimed in, looking a little worried.

"Nonsense. I love motorbikes. And their speed. And noise."

Yuki suppressed a laugh at the other manager's flustered attempts at coming up with an explanation.

"So what's yours? A Yamaha?" Yashiro asked him when he was finally out of the car.

Mindful that the windows were down, he was throwing out random motor brands he had heard of, desperately hoping that he sounded like he knew what he was talking about.

Now Yuki couldn't hold it any longer - Yashiro's tone and facial expression were just too funny.

"No. It's a MV Augusta." he said, chortling.

Yashiro scowled at him, his back toward the car.

Keeping a straight face, Yuki waved at Ren and Kyoko.

"Good night." he called.

Ren didn't start the motor. He had a hunch that this was another poorly disguised attempt to bring him and Kyoko a little closer.

"How are you getting home, Yoshiro-san?" he asked pleasantly, his fake-gentlemanly smile turned up to its minimum level.

"I..uh.." his manager stuttered, stepping backwards a little bit.

"I'll drive him." Yuki replied smoothly, flashing his own smile.

"A motorbike isn't a very safe vehicle." Ren retorted, not ready to give up yet.

"I trust Yuki-kun, Tsuruga-san." Kyoko said from behind him.

Ren dropped the act and gave Yuki a slight scowl.

His cousin only winked in response.

"Alright then. Good night Yashiro-san, Yuki-kun." he said exasperatedly before driving off.

* * *

><p>"Where do you live?" Yuki asked Yashiro as soon as the car was out of sight.<p>

He dug out his helmet and offered it to Yashiro who only looked at him, gaping.

"You weren't really serious about driving me home, were you?"

"Well, I don't have to but I doubt you have your mobile to call for a taxi."

Immediately, Yashiro began patting down his jacket, finding himself indeed mobile-less.

"You forgot it in the car." Yuki said patiently, answering Yashiro's silent question. "I suggest if you want a ride, you get on now. I have to be somewhere in an hour."

Yashiro gulped nervously, taking the helmet that Yuki was still holding out to him.

Yuki grinned and swung himself over the motorbike. Kicking it into gear, he looked at Yashiro.

"Coming or what?"

Yashiro took one deep breath and briefly closed his eyes to pray for his life. He then finally got on, seating himself behind Yuki.

He flinched when Yuki tested the brakes, making the motor roar even louder.

"Ren, you _so_ owe me."

* * *

><p>To all who have read this far - I'M SO SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING SOONER!<p>

The truth is that I had most of this chapter written already for a while, i just couldn't seem to finish correctly.

PLEASE FORGIVE ME I'LL TRY AND UPDATING MORE REGULARLY FROM NOW ON!

And also a HUGE thank you to everyone who reviewed. Reviews make me very happy XD


	13. NOT A CHAPTER

Hello readers,

first off, I'm sorry for just leaving this story. As already mentioned on my profile previously, I have no inspiration for this story anymore. I was thinking about re-writing it for a while since my writing style has changed somewhat, but it's a lot of work and I just don't have the time and patience for it.

That's why I'd like to give this story up for adoption. If any of are interested in continuing this story, please PM me.

Sorry to disappoint and a Happy New Year (I do realise those sound a little strange next to each other...),

StarryNight359


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